More Than I Thought Possible
by raider22
Summary: AU: Quinn, a cheerleader and member of the glee club at McKinley High, spends her days trying to be perfect in the eyes of her peers, teachers, and parents. Rachel is the star of Vocal Adrenaline and befriends Quinn on Facebook. Their internet friendship progresses to best friend status, but how will Quinn handle it when her feelings go much deeper than she originally planned?
1. Chapter 1

Quinn relaxed into the chair at her desk and logged on to Facebook. Her eyes were immediately drawn to her newest friend request "Rachel Berry."

_I know that name... how do I know that name?_

She clicked on her icon to see her picture better. Her profile picture was of a seemingly short brunette on a stage and singing into a microphone. Her eyes were shut tight in concentration and it seemed as though she was putting her all into the note she was belting.

_God, she even looks familiar._

Quinn continued browsing Rachel's page. **Goes to Carmel High School. Lives in Dayton, Ohio.**

Quinn finally realized this was the girl that kicked New Directions' asses single-handedly every year at regionals. This tiny brunette had a stellar voice and was the pride and joy of Vocal Adrenaline. Now that she knew who the girl was, Quinn still couldn't figure out why she was trying to add her as a friend. Sure, they had spoken a few times after competitions. Quinn was polite and tried to be a good sport. Of course she didn't _like_ losing, but you can't really take it too hard when they have someone like this girl as their lead. She was clearly destined for stardom.

Cheerios, of course, was a completely different can of worms. There was no way she could accept anything less than perfection there. Which is why she was currently riding high off her second National Championship as captain. Quinn smiled to herself as she thought of her success the previous week. Her sister, Frannie, hadn't managed to become captain until her junior year and she had never snagged that elusive National Championship. As far as perfection points go, Quinn was well on her way to earning the top seat in the family.

_Take that Frannie! Stick that in your self-righteous mouth and suck it!_

Quinn looked back to Rachel's page. The girl was nice enough. Well, maybe a little self-centered and egotistical, but she wasn't rude. _Ahh, what the hell, you can never have to many friends, right? I'm sure I'll never talk to her anyway... _Quinn clicked accept and moved back to her home page and began scrolling through statuses. She chuckled after she read Santana's:

**Kicked some major ass this past week at Nationals, bow to me bitches!**

She was just about to comment on the status when a chat box popped up.

**Rachel: Hello, Quinn! How are you this fine day?**

Quinn laughed, so much for never talking to the girl.

**Quinn: Hey, Rachel. I'm doing great thank you for asking.**

**Quinn: How are you?**

**Rachel: Oh, I'm spectacular thank you! I just wanted to take the opportunity to congratulate you on your recent victory at the National Cheerleading Competition. I heard your performance was rather impressive.**

**Quinn: Thank you! I'm pretty excited about it. A lot of people said that it was a fluke when we won last year, so it was a great feeling to prove that we deserved it.**

**Quinn: Plus, I realllllyyy like holding that massive trophy :)**

After she said that, Quinn decided to change her profile picture to one of herself, Brittany, and Santana. They were holding their newly acquired trophy, all sporting huge grins.

**Rachel: Haha, I'm sure you do. I must admit, I too, enjoy holding massive trophies, especially if they are of the National Show Choir persuasion ;)**

Quinn shook her head and laughed. There was that ego Rachel Berry was famous for.

**Quinn: Ouch, don't rub in the success or anything. Just when I was thinking you were nice too... smh**

**Rachel: Ha, shows how little you know me! I am never nice when it comes to show choir :)**

**Quinn: Haha, you're right. I don't really know you very well.**

**Quinn: i understand completely, though. I am just at cutthroat when it comes to cheerleading competitions. No one stands a chance, I ****_will _****cut a bitch!**

**Rachel: Glad to see someone finally gets it. Seriously, you would think people would realize that I'm not as self-centered as I seem. I just really like winning.**

**Quinn: Haha, noted. I just hope you don't enjoy squashing us like a bug too much. I would hate to have to put you in the sadistic category. I'm not sure our friendship would survive a label like that.**

**Rachel: Oh goodness! No, I'm definitely not a sadist. I do like squashing the competition though... Let's just say that I at least respect New Directions enough to not laugh evilly when we leap over you on our way to Nationals. I leave that part to Jesse.**

Quinn couldn't hold back a scoff at that. No one could ever say that Rachel Berry lacked confidence. She really wanted to put this girl in her place at the Regionals competition. It was time New Directions gave Vocal Adrenaline a run for their money.

**Quinn: Cocky, Cocky! Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Rachel. Regionals is still a few weeks away and I would hate for you to be embarrassed by all this trash talk should an upset occur.**

**Quinn: Also, who is this Jesse person so I can exact my revenge?**

**Rachel: Fine, I'll let you keep your hope for now :) However, we are both aware that while cheerleading is your domain, show choir is mine, and I do not take competition lightly.**

**Rachel: Also, Jesse is my leading man, aka boyfriend and male lead of Vocal Adrenaline.**

Of course, how could she forget that sleaze-ball? The guy looked like he put enough gel in his hair to tame a lions' mane. Quinn mentally made a note to pay more attention to Sue Sylvester's rants about Mr. Schuester's hair. She usually had some pretty good insults. Quinn laughed, _maybe they get their styling tips from the same place?_

**Quinn: Oh right, St. Jackass. I remember him now. So you like the pompous ones huh?**

**Rachel: That's not very nice, Quinn. While I must admit that Jesse is slightly more arrogant than most people can handle, he definitely has the talent to justify himself.**

**Quinn: Haha, I was just teasing. I guess that is kind of hard to convey through the computer though. I apologize.**

**Rachel: Oh, of course. I should have realized. Apology accepted.**

Quinn heard her mom call her down for dinner and sighed. Time to go act like a perfect child to please mommy and daddy.

**Quinn: Well Rachel, as fun as this has been, I need to get going. Apparently dinner is on the table. I'll be seeing you soon though. Bring your game face, you know I'll have mine on! :)**

**Rachel: Ha, you got it. I hope you are as prepared as you think. I would at least like a challenge. It makes the victory much sweeter :P**

**Rachel: Have a good evening!**

Quinn shut her laptop and followed her nose to the dining room downstairs. She smiled as she sat down to dinner with her parents and mused that adding Rachel Berry on Facebook would prove to be a lot more interesting than she ever thought possible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep**

Quinn rolled over and flung her arm in the general direction of her alarm clock. After missing a few times she finally made contact with a thud.

_UGH... how can it be morning already?_

There was a knock at the door, "Quinnie, time to get up dear. You don't want to be late!"

Quinn groaned in response. "I know, mom. I'm getting there."

"Well hurry up then! We can't have our two-time National Championship Cheerio making a bad impression on her first day back after competition."

Quinn rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "you mean 'we can't let everyone think Judy Fabray would allow her daughter to have anything less than a perfect attendance record.'"

Judy's wiggled the handle of the locked door, "What was that dear? I can't really hear you through the door. I can't possibly imagine why you lock your door all the time, completely unnecessary. I should get your father to remove these locks."

Quinn jumped out of bed and raced to open her door before her mother could make any hasty decisions. "No! I just like to have it locked so you or dad don't accidentally walk in on me while I'm changing. They really are necessary, mom, I promise. You know how important modesty is to me."

Judy hummed in response, "well I can't argue with modesty. Respect is a very valuable thing to have and of course that starts with respecting yourself!"

A fake smile graced Quinn's features. "I know mom, but I really need to start getting ready now."

"Oh of course! I'll just go back downstairs and start on your breakfast." An overtly cheerful Judy turned and retreated back down the hallway.

After she closed the door, Quinn breathed a sigh of relief. Never let it be said that her mother doesn't care about appearances. She rolled her eyes and started getting ready.

* * *

Quinn arrived in the McKinley parking lot and started towards the entrance. Just as she was about to open the door she heard someone call out from behind her. "Hey, Chastity Queen, slow your roll!" Quinn turned to see Santana and Brittany headed her way. She quirked her eyebrow, "What do you want Satan?" Santana leveled her with a steely glare. "Well excuse me for wanting to walk into this hell-hole as the unbreakable and unholy trinity we are. I'm sorry for wanting to bask in the glory of having everyone look at us in awe and bow at our feet."

Quinn started laughing, of course Santana would want to make a grand entrance. "Santana, I know you are proud and all, but I think I might need to look for my needle so we can get your head through the door."

"Whatever, Q, you know you are just as excited as I am about this," Santana said as she reached back and linked pinkies with Brittany. "Just because you are too busy playing little miss perfect to let your ego show doesn't mean that Britts and I can't enjoy us a little power trip."

"Ha! Little? More like humongous, immeasurable power trip!" Quinn shot Brittany a knowing smirk and continued with faux exasperation, "Well, if we must," she sighed as she gestured to the door, "let's get this over with."

Quinn opened the door and lead the way into the hallways of McKinley High. The crowd immediately parted to make room for the trio. People stared and began whispering with awed looks on their faces. They made their way to their lockers and Quinn suddenly remembered the strange interaction she had with Rachel the previous night. "So, the most random thing happened to me last night," she said as she turned to face Brittany and Santana. "Rachel Berry added me as a friend on Facebook and then messaged me for like half an hour." Santana's brow furrowed as she tried to place the familiar name, but Brittany's eyes lit up as she exclaimed, "Oh the little fairy that sings for Vocal Adrenaline?" Quinn looked at Brittany and laughed, "Yes, Britt, that's the one."

Santana raised an eyebrow at Quinn as she asked, "wait a minute, you mean the hobbit that prances around with that Danny Zuko wanna-be and sings showtunes?" Quinn only nodded at the surprisingly accurate description, well minus the hobbit part. "What the hell is she doing messaging you? Have you ever even met her?"

"Actually, yes a couple of times," Quinn answered as she pulled her books for first period out of her locker. "Well, I mean, not officially or anything, but we have acknowledged each other at competitions. She's actually a lot nicer than I expected her to be. She wanted to congratulate me on our Cheerios win."

"Yeah and probably also point out that it's the only national championship we will be getting this year_. _Lord knows an ego like that would never let us live down our consecutive losses to the automatons of Vocal Adrenaline." Santana scoffed as they moved down the hallway towards their first period class.

Brittany hit Santana on the shoulder, "Be nice San, I think she's cute. Quinn, could you ask her if I can carry her around in my pocket? I think she would fit. I wouldn't want to hurt her wings though."

Quinn smiled indulgently at Brittany. "Sure Britt, I'll ask her. I don't know if she could survive there though. She probably wouldn't have quite enough attention." She then focused her gaze on Santana and continued, "And yes, she did bring up the fact that they have the advantage for regionals. Although she wasn't quite as rude about it as I would have expected." Her face scrunched up as she thought back to the feel of the conversation. "She was actually really playful about the whole thing, but still extending a challenge. I think it might be kind of fun to get to know her and give her a hard time about us giving them a run for their money at regionals."

Santana quirked her eyebrow, "Sounds like somebody just gave little miss perfect Quinn Fabray a reason to get her competition face on." She smirked at Quinn and Brittany. "Shit just got interesting," she stated as the bell rang for their first class.

* * *

The trio met up at Quinn's locker before glee. As they started down the hallway, Quinn spoke up. "I was serious about wanting to take it up a notch in glee. I think we could have a real shot at this if we took it more seriously."

Santana nodded in response. "Yeah, Q, I'm down for that. Two National Championships in one year definitely sounds enticing. Add in that Nationals are in New York this year," she trailed off and smirked. "Well, let's just say you can definitely count on me having your back on whatever you have planned."

Brittany clapped excitedly. "Does this mean we can go to Central Park and feed the ducks?" she asked as she pulled at Santana's arm. "Sure, Britt Britt, if we make it to New York we can definitely go feed the ducks."

They entered the choir room and sat down towards the back. Quinn was already trying to decide how to get the group more motivated. Many of them had already resigned themselves to losing to Vocal Adrenaline at regionals and didn't have much interest in pushing themselves for the competition. She was drawn out of her thoughts when Mr. Schuester walked up to the front of the room and clapped his hands.

"Alright guys, first off let's have a big round of applause for Quinn, Brittany, and Santana for their big win at Nationals!" The group all turned in their seats as the whooped and hollered for the trio. After all the noise died down, Mr Schuester continued, "Now I know that regionals is coming up in a few weeks, but we have had so many fights over solos, that I think we should spend this weeks building team unity." He walked over to the white board to write his new assignment down. "I know that everyone wants their chance to shine during competition and take Vocal Adrenaline down, but we can't do that if we aren't acting as a strong unit. Come on guys, glee club is supposed to be about family. We need to start acting like it if we want to win!"

Quinn cleared her throat and raised her hand, "I'm terribly sorry for interrupting Mr. Schue, but we only have about 4 weeks until competition and I really think we should get our set list picked and start learning the choreography."

Mr. Schuester looked up from the notepad he was writing with a puzzled look on his face. "I really appreciate your enthusiasm, Quinn, but trust me, I know what I'm doing. We can get this assignment done and still have plenty of time to get all of that arranged."

Quinn traded a skeptical look with Santana and then turned back to Mr. Schuester. "I really don't mean to sound disrespectful, sir, but I really think we should get started. Coach Sylvester always has us preparing our routines for Cheerios months in advance. By the time we get to competition, we know it so well that we couldn't mess it up in our sleep. Also, I remember the judges' notes on our performance last year said that we lacked structure and our performance felt thrown together."

An offended look crossed Mr. Schuester's face as she spoke. The first chance he got he jumped in. "Look Quinn, I know that Coach Sylvester runs a very tight ship, but every coach does things a little differently. I believe that this group is more than capable of pulling a great performance together before the competition. _After_ we get through this lesson, of course."

"Mr. Schuester, I must protest. Everyone knows that Vocal Adrenaline has had their set list and choreography for _Nationals_ down since the beginning of the school year. Shelby Corcoran would accept nothing less. If we want to have a chance at winning we need to get on the ball." Quinn shook her head as she took a deep breath and continued, "I mean really guys, don't you all want to shock the show choir world and knock VA on their asses at regionals? I know I would certainly love to have another nationals trophy to add to the collection," she told them as she quirked and eyebrow and look at Santana.

Santana gave the group her best HBIC glare. "Quinn's right, if we want to put the smack down on the hobbit and her greaser play boy, we need to be perfect. And I for one am tired of getting shown up by a midget." The two girls glanced around the room and studied the group, they looked like they were actually getting fired up for the competition.

_Yes! Looks like I may have a future in the motivational speaking world after all. _

Finally, Finn stood up and looked at the group with his crooked smile and a competitive gleam in his eyes. "You know what guys, they're right! Let's do this, we have enough talent and we all want it. We can totally make it to Nationals!" Quinn internally cheered as he encouraged them. She knew that is all it would take to get everyone excited about preparing for regionals. She settled into her seat with a triumphant look on her face.

"Alright guys, well it looks like we will be putting this week's assignment on the back-burner until after regionals." Mr. Schue smiled as he spoke, "We have a competition to win. I want anyone who is interested in a solo to come prepared tomorrow for try-outs. Let's get this set list picked out so we can start working on our choreography! I'll see you all tomorrow. Have a good day!"

The three girls picked up their stuff and started walking out of the choir room. Brittany and Santana linked their pinkies and turned to Quinn. "So, Q, do you want to go eat with us? I wants to get my Breadstix on."

"Thanks, S, but I really need to get home and work on my Trig homework. I have a lot to do and you know how my parents are about my grades. I really need to stay on top of this new chapter if I'm going to keep my straight A average." Quinn huffed, "Lord forbid, I ever make a B on a test. I would shame the whole family and Frannie would never let me live it down."

"Quinnie, you put too much pressure on yourself. You should come have fun with us!" Brittany told her as they walked up to Santana's car. Santana opened the door for Brittany and helped her get in.

"I know I do, Britt, but you know strict my parents are. I can't really do anything during the week. My only free time is on the weekends." Brittany hummed sympathetically. "Well if you change your mind you know where we'll be."

Santana shut the door and gave Quinn a worried glance. "Look, I know you have a lot of pressure on you, but seriously, don't wear yourself out. Being perfect isn't worth running yourself into the ground," she said as she rounded the car. "Plus, you're a teenager. We are supposed to run wild and have fun every now and then!"

"I know, S. Don't worry about me. I'll be just fine. We'll hang this weekend, okay?"

"Sure thing, Q. See ya tomorrow!" They pulled out of the parking lot and Quinn headed towards her car. As she looked through her bag, she realized that her keys were missing. _Dang it, I bet I left them in the locker room after Cheerios practice! _

Reluctantly, Quinn started back into the school and headed towards the locker room. As she walked down the halls she heard singing coming from the auditorium. She realized she didn't recognize the voice and snuck into the back to see who it was. A young girl with long brunette hair was standing in the center of the stage and singing her heart out. _Wow, she's really good. Why haven't I ever seen this girl before? And why isn't she in glee club?_

As the song continued, Quinn decided she probably hadn't seen the girl before because she was a freshman or new to the school. _Gosh, her voice is amazing. I haven't heard a voice like that since Rachel... Oh my gosh I'm a genius!_

Quinn smirked and pulled out her phone.

**Satan, I think I just found our golden ticket to Nationals -Q**

She stuck her phone back into her bag and walked up to the stage. "Hello," she called out. "My name is Quinn. I couldn't help overhearing you sing. You're incredible!"

The girl shyly looked at her feet and dug her toe into the stage as she responded. "Thank you. I just moved here and came across the auditorium as I explored the school. I couldn't help trying out the acoustics." She looked up at Quinn and smiled,"I'm Marley by the way."

Quinn stuck out her hand and shook Marley's. "Well, Marley, have you ever heard of the glee club? We are currently looking for a soloist and I think you just might be just the girl for the job."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you all for reading. I just wanted to clarify a couple of things. First off, this is going to be a Quinn-centric fic and it will be a few chapters before Rachel takes on a heavy role. I'm trying to write a different type of Quinn here. She is going to be struggling with her place in the world beyond her family name, but I won't be using the aggressive side of her personality. Being cruel conflicts with her "all-american girl" and perfect image. Also, there was no Beth debacle and as Santana would say, Quinn is still very much a prude. I have a plan of where I'd like to take this, but I'm open to suggestions. Let me know what you think!

Quinn pulled into her driveway at the same time as her mother. As she got out of the car, she heard her mother call out to her. "Sweetheart, after you take your stuff inside and please come back out here and help me bring in the groceries?"

"Sure, mom," Quinn replied. "I'll be back in just a second." She quickly ran inside and up the stairs to drop her bag in her room. Luckily, when she got back to her mother's car, there were only a few bags left, so she loaded up her arms and headed to the kitchen.

She grunted as she hefted the bags onto the island. Her mother was busy flittering around to different cabinets. "Thanks, Quinnie. I really need to get started on dinner before your father gets home. How was your day?" her mother asked as she put up her purchases.

"It was alright, nothing too exciting. Unfortunately the teachers in my honors classes aren't rewarding the Cheerios by laying off the homework," Quinn wined. "I'll be working for hours tonight."

Judy pulled her head out of the pantry to look at Quinn. "You better get yourself in gear and get started then little missy. I'll call you down when dinner is ready. I'm making your favorite," she added.

"If I must," Quinn sighed. "But only because I consider your chicken and rice to be equivalent to a bribe." She smirked and ran up the stairs to her room. When she got there, she heard a text come through her phone.

**Golden ticket, huh? What, did you bribe the midget to come to McKinley? -S**

Quinn plopped down on her bed and thought back the auditorium. Marley Rose was a dream come true. She was exactly was New Directions needed to have an edge coming into regionals. Her voice was incredible and would be the perfect choice for a solo. The cherry on top was that she was completely unknown and would have her unveiling at the competition.

After explaining the girl what the club was she told Marley to prepare a solo for her try-out the following day in the choir room. Once they had exchanged phone numbers, in case she had any questions, Marley gave Quinn a big hug, thanked her profusely, and scurried off to work on a song. Quinn couldn't wait for the club to see her secret weapon.

**Even better. Apparently a new student just transferred in. A new student who voice is only comparable to Miss Rachel Berry herself. -Q**

**Holy shit, Q. I don't know how you manage to pull stuff like this off, but if that's true we may actually have a shot at going to Nationals after all. -S**

**Just wait until you hear her sing. It's incredible. -Q**

**Looking forward to it. See you tomorrow. -S**

Quinn dropped her phone and grabbed her bag off the floor on the way to her desk. She was in for a long night: Trigonometry, Physics, English and Spanish were all calling her name. She wined, _Why can't I have a normal family that let's me slack off and every now and then? Is that too much to ask?_

The Fabray's were local royalty in Lima. Russell was a graduate from Harvard Law and had a very successful practice. Judy was a typical trophy wife. The two met in college and married just as Russell finished Law School. Judy had never worked a day in her life and only attended college to get her MRS. Frannie was the eldest of the Fabray children and was a picturesque blonde. Russell and Judy always bragged about how well rounded Frannie was and how proud she made them as she graduated Valedictorian and followed in her father's footsteps to Harvard. The picture perfect family was completed with Quinn, whose beauty and poise was admired by all who saw her. They were the ideal Christian family and were respected in the church, where Russell was a deacon and taught a Sunday School class with his ever doting wife at his side. They never missed a Sunday and it further cemented their status in the town. The Fabray's could do no wrong and certain expectations came with the name.

The whole thing made Quinn sick. Don't get her wrong, she loved her family, but she felt like she could never really let go and be herself because she was constantly being watched. In fact, she was so busy playing a part that she wasn't really sure who _herself _was.

To gain attention and praise from her parents, she had to outperform Frannie in everything. This made things slightly hostile between the girls, as they competed for bragging rights. Currently, all of Quinn's time was split between heading up different clubs and societies along with Cheerios and maintaining her perfect grade point average. It was exhausting and most days she just wanted to pass out on her bed when she got home. She hoped one day she would wake up and this would all be a dream, so she could have some fun like a normal teenager.

She threw her Trig book on the bed and decided to take a break. Her reading for English could wait until after dinner. She had already finished the majority of the work she had due tomorrow and her brain felt like mush.

As she got comfy on her bed and tried to find something interesting on TV, an idea crossed her mind. She smirked and grabbed her laptop off her desk. Immediately, she navigated to Rachel's page. It was time for some good old fashioned smack talk.

**I hope you took me seriously yesterday, Berry. New Directions has tripled our efforts and added in a little surprise just to make things interesting. Be prepared, we're coming for your title :)**

The front door closed as her dad got back from work. Quinn closed her laptop so she could greet him. Dinner would probably be ready soon anyway.

Her mom and dad were in the kitchen talking when she finally found them. She walked up to her dad and gave him a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Hey, Daddy. How was work, today?"

He smiled at her greeting and gave her a quick peck on her forehead. "It was fine, sweetheart, thank you for asking. How was your day?" he asked as she helped her mother move the food onto the dining room table. He followed them to the table. "It was good," she answered. "Nothing too exciting happened, just got a lot of homework." She paused, "Oh, and I found a new girl to add to the glee club. She has an amazing voice and I really think she might be just the thing to get us to Nationals!"

Her parents exchanged a proud look. "That's wonderful, sweetie," her father told her. "We always look forward to your competitions. It's good to hear that you have found a way to give your team a competitive edge at regionals." He ruffled her hair as he sat down and affectionately said, "always the little over-achiever."

Judy cleared her throat and gave Russell a pointed look. "Darling, if we don't eat soon, the food will go cold," she scolded. He gave a hearty laugh and winked at Quinn as he replied. "Of course dear, we wouldn't want to let your cooking go to waste. Let's say grace..."

* * *

After dinner, Quinn cleaned up the dishes for her mother and went back to her room to finish up her homework. When she was done, she joined her parents in the living room for "family time." They were currently watching some NBA game that she was not remotely interested in (she was pretty sure her mother felt the same way), and she took a seat on the couch.

Quinn always hated this part of the evening. If her homework was finished, she was expected to sit in living room with her parents and watch whatever her dad deemed interesting until it was time for bed. She had learned early on in life that it was better to just sit and be quiet so her dad could unwind from the work day. If you started talking and he wasn't interested, his mood would quickly sour, and Quinn didn't want any part of that. Most of the time her father would alternate between dozing off and watching some kind of sporting event while her mother would cross-stitch to pass the time. During football and baseball seasons, Quinn was usually content to watch the game with her father. Basketball, however, was not a sport that she could really get into and she quickly found herself becoming incredibly bored.

She excused herself for a moment to run up to her bedroom and grab her laptop and phone to entertain herself. Once she returned to her normal place on the couch, she got comfortable and opened her laptop up. It was still on Rachel's page from earlier in the day and she immediately received a message.

**Rachel: One day of "tripling your efforts" and you are already talking trash? Tsk Tsk Quinn, you should know better than that :)**

**Quinn: Well hello to you too, Rachel. :P**

**Quinn: And believe me when I say you have no idea what amazing things have transpired in the time since we last spoke. **

**Quinn: Well, maybe I should clarify: amazing for me, horrific and possibly life changing for you :)**

**Rachel: Ha! I highly doubt that, Quinn. Maybe your glee club has made some strides in the correct direction, but that will probably only make the competition slightly more entertaining for the viewers, not pose a serious threat to the well seasoned singers in Vocal Adrenaline. We live and breathe for competition. **

Quinn shook her head and smiled at the boastfulness of the girl. She would expect nothing less from "Diva-Berry."

**Quinn: Well aren't you sweet. For the sake of our newfound friendship, I'm going to choose to ignore the insult in that and focus on the making "strides in the correct direction" part. **

**Rachel: Good to know my confidence doesn't shake yours :P**

**Rachel: But seriously Quinn, the only thing I can think of that could change the performance of New Directions so drastically would be for you to get rid of that incompetent coach of yours and find someone who actually knew how to prepare a show choir.**

**Rachel: I truly don't mean to be offensive, he seems like a nice enough man, but New Directions could certainly be a lot more impressive with the proper preparation. **

**Quinn: Oh my God, I know! I love Mr. Schuester in like an older-brother-almost-father-like-figure kind of way, but he is a horrible coach. He likes to do all these "life lessons" as assignments every week and puts off competition practice until a week or two before. **

**Quinn: He tried to make us start a new "team unity" lesson this week and I finally just put my foot down. I know that he means well, but I refuse to be embarrassed at this competition. I am officially kicking New Directions into gear "Cheerio Quinn" style with a side of mini Coach Sylvester via Santana Lopez. And believe me when I say, "Cheerio Quinn" is not pleasant. **

**Rachel: Hahaha, I shudder to think what kind of hell you plan to bring to your little group then. Though I must admit, I'm not sure who Santana Lopez is. Should I know her?**

**Rachel: Also, I'm awarding myself mental points for correctly deducing that Mr. Schuester was your problem all along :)**

**Quinn: Santana is the Latina in New Directions with the smoky voice. She is also a cheerio and is often heard saying phrases such as: "I wants to get my mack on" and "I'ma go alllll Lima Heights" followed by a string of undoubtedly profane statements in spanish. She is also often seen with a bubbly blonde-haired, blue-eyed dancer named Brittany. **

**Rachel: Ohhh, is she the one who tried to jump me after I accepted the trophy last year?**

Quinn busted out laughing at the memory. Santana had indeed attempted to go "all Lima Heights" on Rachel the previous year. Luckily, Brittany had been near to hold her back.

**Quinn: LOL, I forgot about that! Yes, she is, and you have Brittany to thank for not having your hair ripped out or nose broken. **

**Rachel: That was indeed a scary moment. Please thank Brittany on my behalf. **

**Quinn: Haha sure thing. Oh and speaking of Brittany, she wanted me to ask you if she could carry you around in her pocket... She is apparently under the impression that you are some sort of woodland fairy :)**

**Rachel: Haha, wow... Well that's certainly a first. Tell her that although I am certain I would enjoy my time with her, I am like Tinkerbell and I need applause to live. Therefore, I must, regrettably, decline her invitation. **

She snickered as she read that and pictured Rachel slowly coming back to life as an audience held a standing ovation in her honor.

**Quinn: Well, that wasn't dramatic at all...**

**Rachel: Get used to it, sweetheart, it's all a part of the Rachel Berry package :)**

**Quinn: Sweetheart, huh? I wasn't aware we were using pet names now? lol**

Across the room, a throat cleared, taking her attention away from her laptop screen. She had been so engaged in the conversation that she forgotten that her father was probably sleeping. Judging by the pointed look he was giving her, she had woken him up. He raised his eyebrow and scoldingly asked, "Just what is so funny over there, Quinn?"

Quinn looked down and bit her lip before she answered him. "Nothing important, daddy. Just something a friend said." He raised his head and hummed in acknowledgment. "Well, I think it's time for you to come back and join your mother and I in the real world. It's almost time for you to head to bed anyway."

"Yes, sir. Just let me tell her goodbye," Quinn said as she looked back to her computer.

**Quinn: Oh shoot, my dad is giving me the evil eye... I better get off before he gets mad. I'll send you my phone number though. Please feel free to text whenever you get the urge to engage in some trash talk :) Goodnight.**

She quickly shut her laptop and settled back down on the couch to finish watching the game with her parents. She had just found a comfortable spot when she heard her phone buzz from the floor. After eyeing her father to see that he had dozed back off, she made a quick grab for it and saw that she had two unread texts. The first was from Marley:

**I'm so nervous, Quinn! Are you sure I'm cut out for this?-Marley**

**Absolutely! You are incredible and I know the glee club will agree with me as soon as you start your song. So quit worrying, you'll be great :) -Q**

**Ok, if you say so. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then :) -Marley**

**Sure thing, songbird. I'll come find you before we start to wish you luck! -Q**

The second text was from an unknown number and she furrowed her brow as she opened it.

**Geez, one little pet name and you go running. I think you left a cloud of dust in your wake. -Rachel***

**LOL, shut up. My dad was sporting his lecture face and I'm not fond of being grounded. -Q **

**Haha if you say so, SWEETHEART. I guess I should let you go then. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble because of me. -Rachel***

**Oh, HONEY BUNCH, you're so gracious. How will I ever repay you? :P -Q**

**Also, I really do need to go before i get caught. I'll talk to you later -Q**

**Of course. Goodnight then, sweetheart ;) -Rachel***

**Haha, Goodnight, honey bunch. Sleep well. -Q**

****A/N: On an interesting side note, right as I was about to post this, as drunk guy did a hit and run outside my house that put my neighbors car in my yard. I'm going to count my blessings that they didn't actually run into my house...


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you so much for reviews, favorites, and follows! I hope you like this next chapter. Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions please let me know. I'll definitely consider them.

Quinn awoke to her message tone sounding from her bedside table. She looked at her clock._ 5:30 AM? Seriously? Who could possibly be texting me right now?_ She decided to ignore it and snuggled back into bed. Just as she started nodding off, another message came through. She turned and glared at her phone. Someone was going to die if it went off one more time. She closed her eyes and her breathing started to even out... _Oh my gosh, this better be important! _

**Good morning, sweetheart. Wakey, Wakey! -Rachel***

**Just wanted to let you know that Vocal Adrenaline is looking better than ever at our morning practice. -Rachel***

**Honestly, Quinn, how can you ever expect to beat us if you can't even get up for an early morning practice -Rachel***

Quinn was seriously starting to regret giving Rachel her phone number. This was completely unacceptable. No one in their right mind was awake this early, much less at a show choir practice...

**Honey bunch, I know I told you to text me whenever you felt like talking trash, but if you ever text me before 8 AM again, you won't live to see a response. -Q**

**Seriously, I will kill you and no one will find your body. Now let me sleep. -Q**

She dropped her head on the pillow and hoped for at least another hour of undisturbed sleep.

* * *

Students scrambled out of the way as Quinn stalked down the hallway in a horrible mood. She had bags under her eyes and a permanent scowl etched across her face. _I cannot believe Rachel would deliberately wake me up at 5:30! What the hell is wrong with her? I mean, sure I have been giving her a hard time about regionals, but that was just uncalled for. Gosh, this is just a wonderful freaking start to what is sure to be a wonderful freaking day! UGH! _

Lost in her thoughts, she drained the rest of her coffee and tossed it in the trash as she turned the corner that lead to her locker. When she reached it, she started putting in her combination and yanked on the door. When it refused to open, she let out a frustrated squeal and hit the locker next hers.

"Woah, Q. What crawled up your ass and died?" Santana asked as she and Brittany walked up. Quinn took a deep breath and groaned as she turned to face them with a glare. "Holy shit, you're not looking so hot," Santana told her as a concerned look took over her face. "Are you okay?"

"No, Santana, I'm not okay. I'm seriously pissed off and very sleep deprived," Quinn griped. "A certain diva, who shall remain nameless, decided to be a total jerk and wake me up at 5:30 this morning by blowing up my phone." Her face turned to a pout and she stuck her lip out. "I couldn't go back to sleep and now my head hurts," she whined and tucked herself into Brittany's arms.

Santana barked out a laugh. "Oh my gosh, Q! Girl's got some strategy. That's what you get for talking trash," she said as Brittany rubbed her hand up and down Quinn's back in an effort to comfort the girl. Santana moved to Quinn's locker to open it up for her.

Quinn looked up from Brittany's shoulder at Santana with puppy dog eyes. "Consider my lesson learned. I think I'm going to die before the day is over." The bell rang and students began making their way to class. Brittany helped Quinn get her stuff and led her down the hallway as Santana muttered under her breath, "Looks like the diva-tude is contagious."

* * *

Quinn was sitting in her history class with her head propped up in her hand desperately fighting to keep her eyes open. It was hard enough in her other classes, but history was the worst. How is anyone supposed to pay attention to the same thing they have learned every year since first grade? Her head began to tip forward as she slowly started giving in to temptation. She jolted upright as her phone buzzed on her lap. A quick look at the screen told her Rachel was texting her again. She scowled at her phone and opened the text.

**It's after 8AM, sweetheart. Is it okay for me to text you now? :P -Rachel***

**You're pushing your luck, Berry. I'm seriously sleep deprived and not in the mood -Q**

She dropped her phone back into her lap and looked back to the front of the room. Her teacher was dividing people up into groups for a project. She felt her phone go off again and made sure her teacher was looking the other way before checking it.

**What, no more "honey bunch?" I'm hurt! :( -Rachel***

**And don't be too mad. I just wanted to show you what kind of dedication it takes to be a WINNING show choir ;) -Rachel***

**Point taken. And you'll go back to honey bunch after I get a nap. -Q**

Rachel responded immediately. _Does she not have class like normal people?_

Quinn's teacher was busy writing the groups on the whiteboard, so she decided it was safe to continue texting for a little longer.

**Well, you should get on that. I like playful Quinn much better -Rachel***

**And whose fault is it that playful Quinn is gone? Don't you have class right now? I wouldn't have guessed you were the texting during school type. -Q**

**I guess I will have to take partial responsibility. Although if you don't want to be awakened in the middle of the night, you should turn your phone off. -Rachel***

**And you're correct. I don't normally text during school, but I'm in my free period and bored, so I figured, why not? -Rachel***

**Well, some of us actually have class and I should get back to paying attention. I don't need to combat both sleep deprivation AND diva distraction. -Q**

**Haha, very well. Don't hate me forever, sweetheart. I'll miss our conversations too much :) -Rachel***

**Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Berry. Talk to you later. -Q **

Quinn's eyes shot up as she heard Santana's boisterous laughter beside her. "It really sucks to be you today, Q," she said as she pointed at the board. Quinn's eyes followed Santana's gesture to the front of the room and her eyes widened comically. She was in a group with Jacob Ben Israel and Finn Hudson. A loud thud sounded as she dropped her head to the desk repeatedly and she let out a little whine. _Seriously? Can this day get any worse?_

* * *

_I just had to ask the question didn't I? The one question you NEVER ask... and I just had to do it... Way to go, Quinn, you're a genius! God, this is seriously the worst day ever..._

After spending the rest of History fending off the advances of the creep that is Jacob Ben Israel and her bumbling ex-boyfriend, Quinn raced to her locker to grab her lunch. She needed to recharge her batteries and decided that a nice quiet lunch in the choir room followed by a power nap was just what the doctor ordered.

As she closed her locker to head to the choir room, Ms. Pillsbury stopped by to remind her about the Celibacy Club meeting that started in five minutes. The meeting she had completely forgotten about and was supposed to lead because she is the president of the club. She sighed and followed Ms. Pillsbury, resigned to being dead on her feet the whole day.

Things began to look up a little bit as she walked towards her Trigonometry class. It was her last class of the day and she had almost made it. The only other thing she had to get through were the tryouts for glee club and she was excited to see everyone's reaction to Marley. Just before she entered the classroom, someone yelled her name from down the hall.

"Fabray! My office, now!" Coach Sylvester bellowed.

Quinn turned to face her and saw that the hallways had cleared out in an effort to avoid the infamous Sue Sylvester wrath. "But Coach, I _really_ can't miss this class," she protested.

"NOW!"

* * *

She rushed back to the class the first chance she got. Apparently Sylvester had wanted to begin recruiting incoming freshman for next year and arranging routines. Of course, that was only the first couple of minutes of the conversation. The rest of it had been spent listening to a rant about training operatives during the Gulf War and Nazi hunting as a child. Quinn finally just decided to quietly slip out of the room while she had her back turned. Hopefully, Coach Sylvester would be so caught up in her monologue that she would forget Quinn was even there in the first place.

She opened the door and quietly apologized for being late. Her teacher, Mrs. Carter, gave her a disappointed look as she said, "Don't let it happen again, Miss Fabray. Your grades will start to suffer if you don't stay on top of your classwork."

Quinn looked down at her feet and took a deep breath before answering, "I understand, ma'am," as she took her seat. The teacher went back to the board and continued with her example problems. Quinn spent the rest of class furiously trying to catch up with what was going on.

When the bell finally rang, Quinn packed up her books and began walking towards the door. Mrs. Carter stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "Miss Fabray, I need you to hand in your homework from last night."

"Oh! Of course, Mrs. Carter. I'm so sorry, it completely slipped my mind," Quinn told her as she began digging through her bag. She opened her class folder only to frown and rummage around some more. "Crap," she whispered as she realized she left her assignment sitting on her desk this morning. She winced as she looked back up to her teacher. "Mrs. Carter, I seem to have forgotten my assignment at home this morning when I left. May I please turn it in tomorrow?"

Mrs. Carter sighed exasperatedly and said, "Very well, Quinn. Since you are normally so on top of things, I will let it slide today. But bare in mind, I will not be so lenient if this happens again. This kind of behavior is unacceptable," she scolded.

"Yes, ma'am. I will make sure this doesn't happen again. I'm terribly sorry. I will be prepared and on time tomorrow, I promise," she said earnestly.

Her teacher nodded her acceptance and said, "Yes, well I should hope so. Bring that assignment to me first thing tomorrow morning. Have a good afternoon."

Quinn said her thanks once again and stopped by her locker to drop her stuff off before heading to glee club. As she approached, she saw Marley standing outside the choir room peering through the door. Quinn placed her hand on her low back and whispered in her ear, "looking for someone?"

Startled, Marley jumped as she whipped her head around and put her hand over her heart. "You scared me!" she exclaimed as she tried to calm her breathing.

Quinn chuckled. "Sorry I'm running a little late. I had to stay behind and speak with a teacher. Are you ready?" she asked with a smile.

Marley took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, I think so... Maybe..." She shook her head and scrunched her face up. "I kind of just want to get this over with."

"Marley," Quinn caught her eye. "Seriously, you are going to be great. Deep breath. You got this," she told the girl as she winked and looked into the room.

Apparently, she was later than she thought. Kurt had just finished up his audition and Mercedes was starting hers. Quinn was pretty sure they were the only two who would audition for the solo. Santana wouldn't bother since she knew Quinn had something up her sleeve.

Once Mercedes finished her song, Quinn led Marley into the room and everyone's eyes immediately shot to the door as they entered. "Guys, this is Marley. She just transferred to McKinley and she's interested in auditioning for the club," Quinn told them as she gestured to the brunette. "I came across her singing in the auditorium yesterday and I think she is a really good candidate for our solo at regionals," she continued. Kurt and Mercedes exchanged withering looks and focused back on Quinn as she spoke to Mr. Schuester. "Please consider this song both her audition for the club and the solo." Quinn gently squeezed Marley's arm as she walked to her seat next to Santana.

After handing her sheet music to Brad and the band, Marley turned to face her audience. The music started and everyone immediately recognized her song choice: Chasing Pavements by Adele. Although she looked a little timid, her voice was strong and clear. As the song continued she gained confidence and really started belting.

Quinn scanned the room as the song built. Santana caught her eye and nodded her head with an impressed look. She leaned over to Quinn and quietly said, "Aretha and Lady Hummel are not going to like this." Quinn nodded her agreement, but a glance around the room showed the rest of the club were looking astonished and awed.

When the song came to an end, Marley shyly said thank you and took the seat next to Quinn. Mr. Schuester walked to the front of the room with wide eyes. "Wow, Marley. That was incredible!" he exclaimed. "Welcome to the club, and I think it's safe to say we found our solo number for regionals. Congratulations!"

Marley's eyes lit up and she practically jumped on Quinn as she hugged her. "Oh my gosh, Quinn! Thank you so much!"

Quinn opened her mouth to respond when the outburst she had been waiting for finally came. "OH HELL TO THE NO, MR. SCHUE!"

Mercedes was indignant and she glared at Marley as her rage built. "You can't let this scrawny wannabe come in here and take a solo right off the bat! She's probably never been in a competition. How do we know she won't freeze up and choke?"

After a reassuring squeeze, Quinn removed herself from Marley's celebratory hug and was in front of Mercedes in a flash. She spoke quietly through clenched teeth, "Mercedes, she earned this fair and square through talent alone. Don't embarrass yourself by throwing a fit, when she is clearly better than you."

She softened her features as she turned to face the rest of the group and stated, "Yes, it's true that Marley is new to show choir competition. However, the whole point of us preparing for regionals this early was to ensure that we are perfect by the time the competition rolls around. At that point, _all_ of us will be able to do these routines in our sleep. Confidence is the key here, and Marley will be wonderful. I'm sure of it." With that, she strolled back to her seat. As she passed Marley, she put a hand on the brunette's shoulder and smiled. "Congratulations, Marley. You deserve this."

Mr. Schuester clapped to get everyone's attention once more. "Alright, guys. I have decided that Blaine and Tina should handle the duet this time, so congratulations to both of you as well."

Kurt gave Blaine a big hug and Mike put his arm around Tina proudly.

"I think that's it for today guys," Mr. Schuester said. "Oh, also Mike and Brittany? Would you two mind staying for a little while to discuss ideas for choreography?" As they both nodded their assent, the rest of the group headed out the door.

* * *

Quinn was looking forward to hiding away in her room for most of the evening and trying to get a handle on the information she missed in Trigonometry. But because glee club lasted longer than usual, when Quinn made it back home, her father was already there. She knew she couldn't get away with just going straight to her room, but as she entered the door the last thing she expected to hear was her father's stern voice.

"Lucy Quinn Fabray, get yourself into this living room right now!"

She quickly complied in an effort to appease her father. If he was bringing out the first name, she knew she was _really_ in trouble. She found her parents sitting on a couch looking serious and she sat opposite of them, racking her brain to figure out what this could be about.

Russell cleared his throat, "Mr. Carter stopped by my office this afternoon. He told me that Mrs. Carter had some interesting things to say about you today." Quinn swallowed hard. She had forgotten that Mrs. Carter's husband worked at her father's firm. This was not going to be pretty.

"Apparently, you missed half of your Trigonometry class today _and_ you forgot your assignment at home." He gave her a hard look as he continued. "He also said that your other teachers were complaining that you weren't focusing in class and falling asleep throughout the day." He shook his head and stood up as he raised his voice. "What is wrong with you? You know this is unacceptable behavior. You are a _Fabray, _Lucy. _Fabray's _don't behave like this. You have no idea how embarrassed I was to find out that my own flesh and blood was being disrespectful to her teachers. I am so disappointed in you."

Those last few words were like daggers in her heart. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to fall. All she ever tried to do was make her parents proud. Every club, every society, every honors class, every yes sir/no sir or yes ma'am/no ma'am was all for them. And no matter how many things she did right, it all got erased as soon as she made _one_ mistake, had _one _bad day. Her voice wavered as she tried to explain herself. "I'm so sorry, daddy. I didn't sleep well last night and-"

He interrupted her, "I don't want to hear your excuses, Lucy!"

"But daddy, I didn't mean to. And Coach Sylvester practically dragged me to her office during Trigonometry. She didn't give me a choice!"

"Enough. I don't want to hear it. Excuses don't fix things. Excuses don't make a reputation, Lucy," he yelled as he walked towards her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Now, I want to go to your room get your laptop and phone and bring them down here. Tonight, you will do your homework and nothing else. Your mother will bring you your dinner when it's ready."

"Yes, sir," she said solemnly as she made her way to the stairs.

He called after her, "You can have your things back tomorrow before school, but you can forget about any plans you had this weekend. It seems as though you need to spend more time on your studies. You obviously aren't taking them seriously enough."

She nodded her head and went to her room to get her laptop. Before she took it down to her father she opened it up and changed her status.

**Seriously, WORST. DAY. EVER.**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello, everyone! Sorry this chapter is a little bit later than normal. My updates will probably be slowing down since I have tests coming up and work is kind of crazy. But as long as there is interest in the story, I'll be sure to keep them coming. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think!

When she made it back to her room, Quinn finally let the tears fall. She threw herself on her bed and buried her head in a pillow as her tears turned into full out sobs. Consumed in her own thoughts, all of the frustration, exhaustion, and hurt of the day slowly melted away as she finally just let go.

_God, why can't I ever get anything right? I hate being a FABRAY. All I want to do is be happy. Be ME. But me, isn't good enough for them. Nothing is ever good enough for them. _

Frustrated, she brooded for another 10 minutes as her tears began to slow. She slowly peeled herself of the bed and headed to her ensuite bathroom to clean up. The mirror revealed red, puffy eyes and mascara streaks trailing down her face. After blowing her nose and putting drops in her eyes, she used a tissue to dispose of the evidence of her breakdown. Her mother would be bringing her dinner soon and Quinn refused to let Judy see the cracks in her armor.

When her appearance was back to semi-normal, she exited her bathroom and picked up her bag from where she dropped it on the floor. She decided her Trig assignment was the priority as it would take the longest to do.

An hour later, Quinn was silently cursing Sue Sylvester. Math was so much easier to learn from a teacher than from a textbook. She had only gotten through about half of the problems, and she wasn't completely sure she was doing them correctly. Her head fell into her hands and she groaned loudly. Mrs. Carter was right, her grades _were_ going to suffer for this.

A gentle knock sounded through the door and Judy poked her head through. Quinn turned from her desk with frustration written all over her face. "Hey, mom. Did you need something?"

"No, Quinnie. I was just bringing up your dinner," she said as she set a tray of food on the corner of Quinn's bed. "How is the homework coming along?"

Quinn glanced back at her open notebook and rubbed at her temple before answering. "Kind of slow, Coach Sylvester made me miss half of class and I'm trying to figure out what they covered while I was gone."

Judy nodded sympathetically and took a deep breath. "Quinn, look at me please." Once she was sure she had Quinn's attention she continued. "Sweetie, I know that your father and I expect a lot from you, but please try to understand. We just want the best for you. We know what you are capable of and we just want to be sure you aren't selling yourself short."

Quinn scoffed quietly as she rolled her eyes. "I know, mom. I'm going to do _great_ things in this world," she replied, sarcasm dripping from her words. "And it's all going to start with forgetting _one_ Trig assignment at home."

Judy's eyebrows shot up and she gave her daughter a stern look. "Don't give me that, Quinn. That 'woe is me' act is unacceptable and you know it. Maybe a couple of the things that happened today were out of your control, but you can't deny that your irresponsibility caused just as much of it." She moved to sit on the bed in front of Quinn and put her hand on her knee. "I know high school isn't easy, but you need to make sure you are putting your time and effort into the important things. A stable future doesn't just drop in your lap. You need to work for it." She patted her on the knee as she stood back up. "Now, eat your dinner before it gets cold. I'll come back up to get your dishes later," she said as she walked out the door.

Once she finished her homework, Quinn started packing her stuff back up for the next day. She glanced at the clock. _9:15_ _PM_. Even though it was early, she decided to go ahead and get ready for bed. She was exhausted and needed to catch up on her sleep a little. After turning out her light, she crawled into bed and looked up at the dark ceiling. _Please let tomorrow be a better day_, she thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

When Quinn came down for breakfast the next day, both her laptop and phone were sitting on the counter in front of her usual seat. She set them off to the side and smiled when she saw that her plate had extra bacon on it. She knew it was her mom trying to make a silent apology and appreciated the gesture. She made quick work of her breakfast and looked at her mother. "I'll see you later, mom. I should be home earlier than I was yesterday," she said as she started out the door.

"Wait, Quinn!" Judy called after her. Quinn turned around with an eyebrow raised in question. "You forgot your phone, dear," her mother said as she offered Quinn her phone.

"Oh, I did that on purpose actually," Quinn responded. "It was almost dead when I gave it to you last night and I can't think of any reason that I should need it. I'lll just get it back from you when I get home from school. Bye," she called as she walked through the door.

As the morning passed, Quinn realized the residual effects of her bad day seemed to have pretty much worn out. Thanks to falling asleep so early, she was well rested and alert. She had turned in her late assignment and even had time to get a little help from Mrs. Carter before school started. Of course, she still had to deal with Jewfro and Finn during History, but that would only last a couple of more days, and she was trying to look on the bright side of things today.

The bell for lunch rang and she quickly made her way to her locker to put up her books and grabbed her lunch. She wanted to make it to Marley's locker before the other girl did so she could invite her to sit with the glee club at lunch. She knew Marley still didn't know very many people and Quinn wanted to make sure the brunette knew she was officially part of the group.

When she turned into the correct hallway, she was disappointed to see that Marley had beaten her there. Quinn waited patiently just behind the girl and watched her lazily arrange her things and then grab for her lunch. She closed her locker and turned right into Quinn.

She jumped and small squeak escaped her lips. "Oh my gosh, Quinn! You seriously need to stop sneaking up on me like that. You're going to give me a heart attack," she scolded with her hand over her heart.

Quinn just chuckled at the girl as she tried to calm herself down. "Any plans for lunch?" she asked.

"Not really, I was thinking about eating in the auditorium and maybe singing a little?" she shrugged. "I don't really know anybody, so that seemed like the best option."

Quinn hooked her arm through Marley's and started to lead her to the cafeteria. "You're a member of New Directions now. And you're _always_ welcome to sit with us," she said as she smiled gently.

They walked up to the table and took the two seats next to Santana who greeted them with a brief nod. Quinn cleared her throat, "Alright everyone, I know you had a chance to meet Marley yesterday, but it's time to introduce yourselves and start making her feel like part of the family." She looked to Sam who was sitting across from them. "Why don't we start with you."

Sam cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah ok. Hi, my name is Sam. I'm a Sophomore and I moved here this year. I play football and I really dig sci-fi and comic books," he said as he smiled at Marley.

Marley turned to the boy next to Sam. "I'm Matt and I'm a Junior. I also play football," he told her.

Mike spoke up next. "I'm Mike, also a Junior and football player," he said as he smiled at her. He and put his arm around Tina. "And this is my girlfriend, Tina," he said as he gave her a squeeze. She blushed in response and waved shyly at Marley.

Kurt and Mercedes eyed Marley with thinly veiled disdain. When it was clear neither of them were going to introduce themselves, Blaine jumped in. He smiled widely at the girl and waved. "Hi, I'm Blaine," he said cheerfully. "I just transferred here this year as well. That is Mercedes and this is Kurt, my boyfriend," he told her as he patted the boy's knee affectionately.

Artie was next. "Sup girl? I'm Artie and this is my bro Finn," he said as he pointed at the large boy sitting next to him.

Finn gave her a crooked smile and said, "I'm the captain of the football team and glee club co-captain with Quinn. It's really great to have you on board. Your voice is awesome!"

Marley blushed at the compliment and said a quiet, "Thank you."

Brittany jumped up and walked quickly over to Marley. She picked the girl up and gave her a big bear hug. "Hi," she said as she squeezed the girl. "I'm Brittany, and it's super awesome to finally meet you. I'm so glad you decided to join glee club!"

Santana was chuckling quietly at the exuberant blonde. "Britts, put her down, sweetie. I don't think she can breathe." Brittany slowly put the girl down and gave her a full blown smile before she returned to her seat.

Santana gave Marley a second to recover before she introduced herself. "And I'm Santana. I'm the baddest bitch in this school, but since Quinn here seems to like you, or whatever, I'll cut you some slack. Just don't get on my bad side," she said dismissively. She then turned to Mercedes and Kurt with a hard glare. "Oh, and you two, throwing the diva fit over there," she said as she gestured between the two. "You're on my shit-list. Keep it up and you best be believing you'll regret it."

Marley looked a little scared after that. Quinn laughed and at her. "Welcome to the family."

* * *

By the time she arrived back at her house, Quinn was in a great mood. The day had gone by quickly and the glee club seemed to really be accepting Marley into the group. Even Kurt and Mercedes had gone from incensed to seemingly indifferent. And though that was most likely a bid to prevent Satan's wrath, Quinn decided she would take what she could get with them. No matter their personal feelings, she knew there was no way they could deny that brunette could sing. They would come around eventually.

When she entered the house she began looking for her mom to let her know she was home. She passed through the empty living room and dining room and walked into the kitchen. There was a note sitting in the middle of the island.

**Quinnie,**

**Your dad had to run to Columbus to meet with a client this afternoon and I went with him. We're staying there for the night and will be back by dinner tomorrow. There are leftovers in the fridge and I put your phone in your room. Call if you need anything.**

**Love you, Mom **

With her newfound freedom, Quinn decided to relax for a while and maybe watch some television before she started on her homework. She didn't have much anyway. She ran up to her room, dropped her bag on her bed, and grabbed her phone and charger before heading back to the living room.

Once her phone was plugged in, she sat on the couch and tried to find something to watch. After looking for a while she found a _Friends_ marathon and decided that was her best option for the night.  
After a couple of minutes, her phone came back to life and began to go off repeatedly with text messages. She picked it up and looked through them. Four were from Santana and six from Brittany. They were all from yesterday and she had already explained to them that she didn't have her phone, so she ignored them. She deleted a couple of poor attempts at flirting from Finn. They had just broken up a couple of weeks ago and she didn't want to go anywhere near that disaster for a while. She finally got to Rachel's messages. Her mouth dropped open and her eyebrows shot up as she saw a total of 11 messages from the girl. She started scrolling through them starting with the earliest.

**Had a nap yet, sweetheart? -Rachel***

**Okayyy, I guess you are napping now? -Rachel***

**You aren't still mad at me are you? :( I was just messing around.. -Rachel***

**Oh my goodness, I just saw your status. Please answer me. I'm really sorry! -Rachel***

**Seriously, Quinn. Please text me back. I'm really, really sorry. I didn't intend to ruin your whole day! -Rachel***

**I guess you don't want to talk to me tonight. Maybe tomorrow then. Just so you know, I'll keep apologizing until you forgive me. I'm very persistent. -Rachel***

**Goodnight, sweetheart. Sleep well -Rachel***

**Are you still mad at me? -Rachel***

**I guess that's a yes. I apologize profusely, Quinn. Please respond. -Rachel***

**Please, Quinn. I can't deal with the silence. You can gripe at me as much as you want. -Rachel***

**I don't know what else to do... I'm so sorry, Quinn. I really didn't think it would affect you this much, or I never would have done it. -Rachel***

Quinn shook her head in amazement. She had no idea silence could worry someone so much. She immediately started her response hoping to assuage the girl's guilt.

**Wow, honey bunch. You seem really worried. Sorry about the lack of response. I lost phone privileges yesterday and just got it back. -Q**

**Oh my gosh, thank God! You finally responded. -Rachel***

**You almost gave me an ****aneurism****, Quinn Fabray! -Rachel***

**I'm sorry, I would have responded if I could have. Oh and I accept your apology. -Q**

**it's completely unnecessary though. -Q**

**No it isn't! I ruined your whole day! I can't apologize enough. I feel terrible :( -Rachel***

**Really, Rachel. It's fine. You didn't ruin my day. There were a whole lot of contributing factors -Q**

**Oh.. Care to share? -Rachel***

Quinn was about to dismiss the offer, but something stopped her. She thought about it a little. Rachel had proved she actually cared time and again over the last 24 hours. They didn't go to school together, so it's not like she could tell anyone important what Quinn said. They hardly ever saw each other which would lessen the level of embarrassment and potential for judgment quite substantially. This was suddenly seeming like a great idea.

**You know what? Yes, I would love to. But it's way too much to say through text. Get on your computer. I'll message you -Q**

**Okay :) Give me just a second -Rachel***

Quinn ran to the kitchen to grab her laptop from where her mother had left it that morning. She turned it on and waited for Rachel to log on.

**Rachel: Okay, I'm here! What's going on?**

**Quinn: Hmm, where to begin... Well to be completely honest, it started off with your texts. Although, you need to know, I don't blame you for any of it. The worst of what happened yesterday had nothing to do with you. **

**Rachel: I'm so sorry :( I really didn't mean to start anything.**

**Quinn: I know you didn't, honey bunch. Please stop apologizing.**

**Quinn: I'm just going to try to get this all out at once. I know it's hard for you to not respond to everything, but please try to restrain yourself ;)**

**Rachel: I'm offended! :P I will try my best though. **

**Quinn: Well, after you texted me I couldn't fall back to sleep and lost about 2 hours. I was completely exhausted by the time I got to school and on top of that, small, frustrating situations kept popping up.**

**Quinn: I couldn't focus in any of my classes. I got grouped up with my doofus ex-boyfriend and the school creep for a project in my History class. I completely forgot about and was totally unprepared for a meeting I had to lead in Celibacy Club.**

**Quinn: Then, Coach Sylvester pulled me out of my Trig class to discuss recruitment of Cheerios for next season. After 30 minutes of her droning on about nonsense, I snuck out to go back to class only to get scolded by the teacher in front of the whole class. I was totally lost and spent the remainder of the period trying to catch up. As I was leaving class, I realized that I forgot my assignment in my room that morning and had to beg my teacher to let me turn it in today. Oh, and I also got into an argument in glee club. **

**Rachel: Woah, that's a lot have to deal with in one day :( I'm so sorry.**

**Quinn: Ha, please. That was just the frustrating build up. The real cherry on top is about to come...**

**Quinn: Apparently, my Trig teacher called her husband, who works at my father's law firm, and told him about how I missed class and forgot my assignment. She also mentioned that I wasn't paying attention/falling asleep on and off throughout the day. Her husband took it upon himself to inform my father of my shortcomings and when I got home we had a "serious discussion."**

**Quinn: He basically told me that there is a certain standard of living that comes with being a Fabray and I wasn't meeting it. He said my behavior was unacceptable. That I was embarrassing him and a disappointment. **

**Rachel: Oh... Sweetheart... I'm so sorry :(**

**Quinn: He just frustrates me so much. My parents put all this pressure on me to be the quintessential daughter so they can show me off to all their friends. It's just another thing they use to try to make themselves look better than everyone else. **

**Quinn: They expect me to take all of the honors classes available to me and maintain a straight A average while juggling all of these clubs and activities. I have to maintain this go-getter, angelic façade and be this perfect little princess all the time. It's so exhausting.**

**Rachel: Quinn... you're breaking my heart. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that yesterday. That sounds horrible. I had no idea you were under such an enormous amount of pressure. **

**Rachel: I know you want to try to make your parents happy, but at some point you need to start living for yourself. Your life is your own. Not your parents'. They won't have to live with the consequences (good or bad) of your choices. You will. And what is the point of going through life unhappy? **

**Rachel: You should start making some choices for yourself. What makes YOU happy?**

**Quinn: That's the thing, Rach. I don't know. I have spent so many years perfecting this mask that I don't really know what makes me happy. I just play a part all the time. Do what I'm told. **

**Rachel: Sweetie, that's a terrible way to go through life :( Consider this a turning point. I am officially proclaiming myself head of the "Find out who Quinn Fabray really is" project. Effective immediately :)**

**Rachel: It's time to find out what brings true joy to your life :)**

**Quinn: Haha if you say so. Are you sure you want to take on an endeavor that large? It could be pretty rough... and take a while...**

**Rachel: Oh I'm definitely up for it :) I love a challenge**

**Quinn: Alright, let's see what kind of magic you can work, honey bunch ;)**

**Quinn: I should really get going though. I need to eat dinner and get started on my homework. **

**Rachel: Okay, well, I guess I'll talk to you later then. Have fun :P**

**Quinn: I'll definitely try, lol. **

**Quinn: And thank you for this. I know I just unloaded a lot on you out of the blue. But, for some reason, I feel like I can trust you. I really appreciate you taking the time to be here for me. You have no idea how much that means to me.**

**Rachel: You are very welcome. You can absolutely trust me, and I'm here for you anytime you need me. :)**

**Quinn: Thanks, Rach. I'm here for you too if you ever need anything :)**

**Rachel: OH! and one more thing...**

**Quinn: What's up?**

**Rachel: I'm glad I have regained my status as honey bunch ;)**

**Quinn: LOL, me too, honey bunch ;) Have a good evening**

**Rachel: You too, sweetheart ;)**

Quinn chuckled at Rachel's antics. She couldn't believe she just laid out her biggest struggles for a girl she hardly knew. It was so against her nature, but she couldn't deny that she felt so much lighter after baring her soul and venting.

_Well, I was right, this friendship with Rachel is definitely going to be an interesting one._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I am so sorry this has taken me so long. Hopefully you guys aren't too mad at me. I made it extra long as a peace offering :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm pretty excited about it. Let me know what you think!

Quinn and Marley were sitting in the auditorium waiting for rehearsal to begin. Today marked the end of Marley's second week in New Directions and Quinn was pleased with the groups' progress. They had all of their songs picked out and were currently practicing the choreography that Mike and Brittany had worked out with Mr. Schuester.

Marley's confidence had grown exponentially since the day she tried out. She felt more at ease and it showed in her performance. Her dancing was no longer shy and timid and she was beginning to build a strong stage presence. The girl was definitely coming into her own.

Quinn's thoughts were interrupted as Santana whacked her on the back of her head to announce her presence. "Sup Q? Mousy?" She nodded her head at them as she took as seat next to Quinn.

Not long after meeting her, Santana had started referring to Marley as Mousy. When Quinn gave her a glare and smacked her on the arm, Santana simply shrugged and told Quinn that she wasn't going to change it until Marley got some confidence. Although the girl had definitely made some strides in that direction, she was no where near "Santana approved" levels.

Brittany bounced in not too far behind Santana. She gave them each a big hug in greeting and sat in Santana's lap. "Did you ask them yet, San?" she asked as she looked at Santana with excited eyes. Santana shook her head. "No, not yet, B," she answered affectionately.

"Ask us what?" Quinn questioned as she and Marley turned to fully look at the two.

"San's parents are gone tonight and we want to have a girls night!" Brittany squealed.

Quinn quirked her eyebrow in question as she shifted her focus to Santana. Santana nodded and said, "Yeah, I thought it could be fun. I was also thinking about making a trip to Columbus tomorrow to go shopping. It's been a while since we've done that."

"Sure, that sounds fun. I will need to ask my parents though." Quinn shrugged and looked to Marley. "Are you in?" she asked the girl.

Marley's eyes widened and she looked off the side. "Oh... I don't know. I wouldn't want to intrude or anything. I'm sure this is like special to you guys or something. You know," she paused, "a group thing or whatever."

Quinn laughed and nudged Marley in the ribs, "Marley do you see who you are sitting with right now? Is there anyone else around us? You're _in _the group, kiddo."

"Yeah, Mousy. Consider this your official welcome party." Santana told her. After a second she added, "Although, I have to say, I don't care if there are four of us now, I am _not_ giving up the title of the Unholy Trinity. Unless we come up with something way more badass."

Mr. Schuester walked up on stage and pulled their attention to practice. They had a lot to learn in very little time.

Once they were release from practice, Quinn made her way home to ask permission to stay at Santana's house and go to Columbus. Things at her house had pretty much gone back to normal since her punishment a week and half ago. Quinn hit the books extra hard for the remainder of that week and over the weekend. As a result, her father had returned to his bragging and "doting" father persona with her mother following suit.

She walked into the living room to find her mother watching a daytime talk show. Judy looked up as Quinn walked in and smiled at her. "Hey, sweetie. How was school today?"

"It was pretty good," Quinn answered. "I'm just glad it's finally Friday" she said as she took a seat across from her mother.

Judy hummed in agreement. "You have been quite busy with rehearsals lately. I'm sure you are ready for a little break."

"Oh definitely. Actually, I wanted to ask you something. Santana is wanting to have a girls' night at her house tonight and go to Columbus tomorrow to go shopping. Would it be alright if I go?" she asked.

Judy sighed. "I don't know, Quinn. You know how I feel about that Lopez girl. You father and I don't think she is a good influence on you. Who all is going to be there?"

"I know you and daddy don't really like her, but she is really loyal to me and we have been friends for a long time," Quinn protested. "And it's just going to be me, her, Brittany, and this girl that just transferred in, Marley."

Judy raised her eyebrow. "And what is this Marley girl like?"

Quinn smiled, "Oh, she is really sweet. Kind of shy though. She is the girl I was telling you that I recruited to New Directions that has an amazing voice. I actually think you and daddy would really like her."

"Well, I guess it's alright if you go," Judy relented and Quinn fist pumped and yelled, "YES!"

"On a few conditions though," she continued. Quinn quit her celebrating and looked to her mom. She really hoped they were mild 'conditions.' "I want to know anytime you leave Santana's house tonight and when you leave in the morning for Columbus. I also want to know when you arrive in Columbus and when you head back home. When you get back to Lima tomorrow, you will come straight home. No exceptions. Am I clear?" she asked.

Quinn nodded her head quickly with a large smile on her face. "Yes, ma'am. I can absolutely do that," she said as she got up to go get ready. As she ran out of the room to head upstairs her mother called after her.

"Oh, and Quinn?" Quinn poked her head back through the door. "One more thing. Sometime soon I want to meet this Marley person that you seem to think your father and I would be so fond of."

Quinn easily agreed. "You got it, mom," she responded as she ran up the stairs.

When she made it to her bedroom, she group texted Santana, Marley, and Brittany.

**My mom said I can go! What time should we be there? -Q**

**Cool, 7:30 should be good. -S**

**Yay, Q! Can't wait! -B**

**Marley, do you need a ride? -Q**

**Yes, please. I was just about to ask if one of you could pick me up. -Marley**

**Sure, I can do that. I'll be at your house around 7:20. Just send me your address. -Q**

Quinn took a quick look at the clock. She had about an hour before she needed to go pick up Marley. She changed out of her cheerleading uniform into some more comfortable clothes and packed up what she would need for her stay at Santana's. She had a lot of homework this weekend, but one look at her abandoned bag on the floor had her brain protesting violently, so she decided she would waste some time on her computer instead.

As soon as she logged in, she noticed that Rachel was online. A small smile involuntarily crossed her features. The two had been texting and chatting pretty consistently since Quinn opened up to Rachel after her awful day. It was mostly conversation about mundane topics or an outlet for those thoughts you can't really say to anyone around you for fear they would be offended. There were times, though, when Rachel was extremely inquisitive. It seemed as though she was taking on her new role as head of the "Find out who Quinn Fabray really is" project very seriously. Quinn assumed this was the "find out what Quinn Fabray likes" step. She laughed as she thought about it. Rachel was such a nerd.

**Quinn: Hey, honey bunch. Whatcha up to?**

**Rachel: Sweetheart! :) I was just about to message you!**

**Rachel: I'm killing time before getting ready for my date with Jesse**

**Quinn: Ah, I see. I have to be honest, I don't really get what you see in that guy. **

**Rachel: I will have you know, he is the perfect leading man, Quinn Fabray!**

**Rachel: He is handsome, charming, popular, an amazing singer, and sure to be successful in the industry. Plus, we have so many things in common. Other than Jesse, I have never met a heterosexual guy who could actually have a real conversation about Broadway with me. It's wonderful!**

**Quinn: I want you to reread that last piece of information you gave me and tell me what is the most logical deduction to make. :P**

**Rachel: Oh, shut up! You can be such a jerk lol**

**Rachel: I assure you, Jesse is most definitely not gay.**

**Quinn: *Gasp* Rachel! How scandalous! ;)**

**Rachel: ugh.. Just so you know I'm glaring at you.**

**Quinn: Ok, well you gave me a few of his superficial characteristics, but what about the important ones? Like is he sweet, kind, caring, does he make you feel special? **

**Rachel: ... He has his moments... **

**Quinn: Uh huh, that's what I thought. **

**Rachel: Whatever, let's not talk about him anymore. What are you up to?**

**Quinn: I am currently unwinding from a busy week before I go to Santana's for a girls' night.**

**Rachel: Hmm, I know you are on the Cheerios and in glee club (and I think you said something about celibacy club?). What other things are keeping you busy?**

**Quinn: haha get ready... this could take a little while..**

**Quinn: I am Captain of the Cheerios, Co-captain of New Directions, President of the Celibacy Club, Vice-President of the Student Council, member of the debate, mathematics, science, and academic decathlon teams, and Vice-President of the National Honors Society. I also like to participate in the school's drama productions when I have the time. **

**Rachel: Woah... that is... just woah. How can you keep up with all of that?**

**Quinn: I don't know. I just do my best to juggle it all. It's really not too horrible once competition is out of the way for the Cheerios. Coach Sylvester is the only one who is really insane with her scheduling. **

**Rachel: Well, color me impressed. I don't think I could handle all of that. **

**Quinn: Well, you know, I'm just awesome like that *buffs nails* *pops collar***

**Rachel: LOL you nerd! I can't believe you just typed that in...smh**

**Quinn: Haha :) But, seriously, I wouldn't do half of that stuff if it weren't for my parents. They just put a lot of pressure on my to be involved and successful. I'm also in all the honors classes available to me and on track to graduate as Valedictorian. Hopefully I can hold onto that position. My father would be supremely disappointed in me if I didn't graduate at the top of my class and go on to Harvard just like he did.**

**Rachel: Yeah, that doesn't sound like much fun. Is that what you want?**

**Quinn: Well, what can I do? I'm kind of dependent on my parents. And I already told you, Rach, I don't really know what I want.. I just know what is expected of me. **

**Rachel: Well, sweetheart, I'm working on it. We will get you all figured out and on the way to happy before you know it :)**

**Quinn: Haha if you say so. **

**Rachel: Well, I really need to start getting ready. Jesse is going to pick me up soon. Have fun at your girls' night!**

**Quinn: Alright, I will. Don't have too much fun on your date. ;)**

A quick glance at the clock told Quinn that she should get a move on if she wanted to get to Santana's house on time. She shut her computer off and put it back in it's normal position on the center of her desk and quickly scanned the room as the mentally checked off items in her head, mentally ensuring she hadn't forgotten anything. Once she confirmed that she was ready to go, she headed down the stairs, said a quick goodbye to her mother, and took off towards Marley's house.

Marley was waiting on the front porch when Quinn pulled up. She smiled and waved at Quinn as she stood up. She brushed herself off and climbed into the passenger seat. "Right on time," she said as she buckled herself in.

"Always," Quinn responded cheekily put the car into reverse and back out of the driveway. Once she was back on the road, she glanced over at Marley and noticed the girl was wringing her hands and gnawing on her lip. "Are you ok?" she asked, voice full of worry.

Marley quickly tried to hide her tells as she glanced up at Quinn. "Yeah, I'm fine. Great even. No, wonderful. Definitely wonderful."

Quinn quirked her eyebrow. "Is that so?" she asked teasingly with a small smirk on her face. "You wouldn't happen to be nervous at all would you? I mean surely this isn't your first time hanging out with a bunch of popular cheerleaders who are older than you or anything, right?" she continued knowingly.

Marley swallowed hard, but tried valiantly to conceal her worry. "No. This isn't new territory at all. Just another day like any other."

Quinn almost laughed at the obvious anxiety rolling off the girl. "Well that's unfortunate." Marley's head immediately whipped around in confusion. Quinn continued, "We were hoping you weren't expecting us to be like your run of the mill cheerleaders. We weren't really feeling like keeping up appearances... But I really don't want to disappoint you, so I guess I will have to tell Santana to bring out the big guns and make sure you get the full experience." She sighed in mock exasperation as she parked outside of Santana's house.

She exited the car, trying to hold a straight face, and Marley immediately scrambled out with a squeak, "Wait. You don't have to do anything special for me," she rushed out. "In fact, I would really like to have a chill night. Definitely calm and relaxing." She was desperately grasping at straws to and trying to maintain her composure.

Quinn finally took pity on the girl. She grabbed both of Marley's shoulders and looked her dead in the eye. "Mar, I thought you had gotten to know us a little better than this. I would never pressure you, or let anyone pressure you, into doing something you didn't want to do. You don't have to worry around us. We will keep you safe. I promise," she told her sincerely.

Marley visibly relaxed at Quinn's reassurance. "Thank you. I'm so sorry I doubted you. I just didn't really know what to expect tonight and I'm just scared."

Quinn chuckled and rang the doorbell. "I totally understand, but relax. Tonight is supposed to be fun."

The door opened to reveal Maribel Lopez with a warm smile adorning her face. "Quinn! It is so good to see you. Come in. Come in." Once they entered the house they could hear Brittany and Santana laughing faintly.

Maribel followed them into the living room and offered her hand to Marley. "You must be Marley. It's a pleasure to meet you. Santana has been singing your praises for the last two weeks," she whispered conspiratorially. "But don't tell her I let that slip," she winked.

Marley blushed and began to feel a lot more comfortable. "Yes, ma'am. It is so nice to meet you. Thank you for having us over."

Maribel gave Quinn an impressed look. "This one has manners. Maybe she will rub off on Santana." She then turned her gaze back to Marley, "and don't you make a habit of calling me ma'am. It's either Maribel or mami. Whichever you are most comfortable with, okay?" Marley just nodded her assent.

"Well, I need to get going. I am picking up Santana's father from the hospital as soon as his shift is over and we are headed out for the weekend. Quinn, be sure you girls give me a call if you need anything. I already talked to your mother, and she said she would be more than happy to swing by if you can't get in touch with me." Maribel began putting on her jacket and grabbed her purse. "Santana and Brittany are in the kitchen figuring out what to order for dinner. I'll see you girls later," she told them and made her way out of the house.

As if on cue, Santana and Brittany bounded out into the living room to greet them. Brittany gave them both big bear hugs and looked to Quinn. "San was thinking about getting pizza and having a movie night. Does that sound good to you guys?"

Quinn gave Marley an 'I told you so' look and smiled back a Brittany. "That sounds great. What movie were you thinking?"

"Well I wanted to have a Disney marathon, but San told me I needed to let Marley choose this time since she's new," Brittany said as she stuck out her lip and pouted.

Santana had a mischievous glint in her eye, as she thought she was dodging a bullet, but it was quickly wiped away as Marley's eyes lit up. "Oh my gosh, do we have Beauty and Beast? or The Little Mermaid?" Santana face palmed and tried to repress a groan. It was going to be a long night.

Halfway through the third movie of the night, Quinn looked away from the tv to glance at over at the other couch. Brittany was snuggled into Santana's side with her head on the Latina's shoulder. They were both sleeping soundly and Santana had a content smile on her face as she sighed and hugged Brittany closer to her. _They are just too cute. I hope Santana admits it is more than just sex soon. Watching her denial is painful. Anyone with eyes can see that they're in love. _

She looked to Marley, who was curled into a little ball at the end of the couch beside her, fast asleep as well. Quinn shook her head and let out a quiet laugh as she got up. She found three blankets and dropped on the recliner as she passed it. She draped one over Marley and tucked a pillow underneath the girl's head. Then, she walked silently over to Santana and Brittany to cover them up as well. She loved those two so much. She really couldn't ask for better friends.

She grabbed the remote as she crossed the room back towards the recliner. After she settled in for the night, she clicked the tv off and fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

In the morning, Quinn, was roused by laughing and clanging in the kitchen. She sat up slowly and stretched as she tried to regain her bearings. She rubbed at her face and noticed that everyone had vacated the couches.

After taking a quick shower, she joined the party in the kitchen. Santana had just finished a stack of pancakes and was beginning to fry some bacon. Ecstatic, Quinn entered the room and breathed in deeply, savoring the scent. "Ahh, a woman after my own heart." She remarked as she exhaled.

Santana turned to Quinn with a smirk. "Well I had to do something to get that lazy ass of yours out of my living room"

Quinn rolled her eyes and sat down between Marley and Brittany at the bar in front of Santana. "Shut up, I got up like 20 minutes ago. Already took a shower and everything."

"Good, you smelled. We didn't want to say anything... but it was getting out of hand," Santana said in mock seriousness.

Everyone laughed as Quinn pouted. Brittany reached over to put her arm around Quinn. "Aw, Q, don't pout. You know we love you. Plus, I think you smell awesome!"

Quinn continued to pout so Brittany slowly started tickling her stomach. "Quinnie,"she sing-songed. "Let me see that pretty smile." She started tickling more quickly. Marley and Santana laughing openly at their friend's antics.

Quinn tried valiantly to hold a straight face, but finally gave in with a squeal, "Alright, alright! I give!"

She turned to Santana and pointed at her, "I'm only letting that slide because you are fixing me bacon." With that, she forked two pancakes and dug in.

Santana scoffed, "Sure, Q. I love you too," she said as she put the bacon in front of the girls. "Oh, and hurry the hell up. I want to leave in 45 minutes."

After fighting over who had to do the dishes, fighting over the bathroom, and fighting over who was driving, they all piled into Santana's Range Rover and headed toward Columbus. Quinn and Santana argued over the music for thirty minutes. There was no way Quinn was going to listen to rap for an hour and a half, she would kill herself. Finally, Brittany put on Adele. and the bickering quickly ended. Adele was something no one could argue with. They arrived at the mall with the volume blasting as they danced and sang at the top of their lungs.

Brittany quickly led the girls to her favorite store. She was moving quickly from rack to rack holding clothes up to Marley and then piling them in Marley's arms. After seeing Marley's helpless expression, Quinn jumped in to help the poor girl out. "Uh, Brittany?" she asked. Brittany continued picking through the clothes. "Brittany, what exactly are you doing?" she asked a little louder.

Brittany paused and cocked her head to the side. "I'm picking out clothes for Marley. I thought it would be fun to dress her up really cute." she replied like it was completely obvious. "Sanny said she would whatever get me whatever I wanted. And this is what I wanted."

Shocked, Quinn and Marley turned to Santana. She just shrugged and said, "What Britts wants, Britts gets."

Marley held her and up. "Wait a second. Are you telling me, you are going to buy me a new wardrobe?"

Santana nodded once, "You heard right, Mousy."

The other brunette's jaw dropped. "You have got to be kidding me. Really, Santana, I can't let you do that. That's just cr-"

Santana interrupted her, "I said, what Britts wants, Britts gets. Now get moving. You already have a lot to try on." She pushed the girl towards the dressing rooms.

Wide-eyed, Marley went to try on the huge stack of clothes Brittany had picked out for her. Just as she was closing the door Brittany called out, "I'll join you in second to help you pair everything and then you can model for Q and San!"

As they waited for Marley and Brittany to reappear, Quinn studied Santana. "What do you want blondie?" Santana asked irritably.

Quinn scratched at her eyebrow and eyed Santana curiously. "I don't understand. I mean, why are you doing this?"

Santana closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "Look Q, the girl doesn't have it easy. Anyone can see that. I can tell her family doesn't have a lot of money, and... I-I- I guess, I just wanted to do something nice for her. Make her feel good about herself and special." She shrugged. "She's one of us now. I take care of my own."

Quinn smiled and patted the other girl's knee. "Thanks, San. You're a great friend." she said sincerely.

Just as Santana opened her mouth (undoubtedly to hurl an insult and break the heaviness of the moment), Brittany and Marley emerged to show off the first outfit. Brittany pushed Marley out in front of Santana and Quinn and had her twirl in front of them. Quinn was pretty sure she hadn't seen a smile that big on Marley's face since she found out that she had gotten the solo for Regionals.

Brittany continued dressing Marley up and parading her around. Marley's confidence was growing right before their eyes. Everyone could tell she felt good in the clothes Brittany was picking out for her.

After the show was over, Brittany and Marley retreated to the dressing room to make the final decisions. Santana waited a couple of minutes and smirked at Quinn. "Enough of this trying clothes on in the dressing rooms. There are much better uses for them," she said as she saunter off towards the stall Brittany and Marley were in.

A minute later, Marley, dashed out wide-eyed and scurried up to Quinn. "Santana came in, made me change back into my clothes, started kissing Brittany, and kicked me out!"

Quinn laughed heartily as she stood up from her seat. "Yeah, I figured that was about to happen. Come on, let's go get some coffee while we wait. This could take a while." She walked toward exit, but Marley hesitated confused.

The girl looked back at the dressing room one last time before muttering quietly, "_What_ could take a while?"

Quinn chuckled again and said, "Come on slowpoke, I'll explain it over coffee." Marley shook off her confusion and took off after the blonde. They walked around for a little while before stopping at a cute little coffee shop nestled in a corner of the mall. Across from it was music and book store that Quinn liked to visit. This was her favorite part of the mall and she knew it was the first place Brittany and Santana would look for her.

Quinn led Marley into the coffee shop and ordered their drinks as Marley got them a table near the window.

As soon as Quinn sat down, Marley started asking questions. "Why did Santana kick me out? And why was she kissing Brittany." Quinn hesitated for a second, not sure what she should reveal to Marley. She figured if Santana felt comfortable kissing Brittany in front of Marley, she could tell the girl what pretty much everyone in school knew. _Big softy was just showing off. Trying to throw me off her scent by getting it on with Brittany. I'm on to you Lopez. I know you just didn't want Marley to see how much money you were going to spend on her._

After clearing her throat, she started to explain. "Well, uh, there is no way to really say this nicely... Santana kicked you out because she wanted to have sex with Brittany."

Marley almost spit her coffee out, "_WHAT?"_

Quinn laughed. "The two are known to hook up every now and then to get attention for boys," she shrugged. "Or, you know, when Santana is bored."

Marley was blinking slowly trying to regain her bearings. "So they're not like together?" she asked.

"No, they aren't." Quinn confirmed.

"Okay," Marley took a deep breath. "I definitely did _not _see that coming."

Quinn smiled lightly in amusement. "You get used to it after a while."

"So they do that often?" Quinn nodded. "And that's why 'Britts gets what Britts wants?'" Marley asked as she imitated Santana.

Her surprisingly accurate impression sent Quinn into a laughing fit. She laid her head down on her arm across the table as she tried to regain her composure. Once she caught her breath she looked up. "Exactly. That is _exactly_ why."

Marley nodded and looked thoughtful. "I don't really feel comfortable with her buying me all of those clothes," she said quietly.

"I know you don't. But please understand, other than with Brittany, Santana doesn't really do affection." Quinn explained. "So, she buys people things and makes up nicknames for them. It's how she shows you that she likes you."

Marley's brow furrowed as that sunk in. "Okay, I guess I get that. But still, she is planning on spending a lot of money on me."

"Don't worry about it, Mar. Santana's family is loaded. You'll get used to her gifts after a while. Just don't complain too much. It's kind of like throwing Santana's love right back in her face, you know?"

"Okay, I think I can handle that" Marley told her as she smiled.

"Plus, I'm pretty sure this is the whole reason she had us hang out this weekend anyway." Quinn mused

"What do you mean," Marley asked confused by Quinn's new line of thought.

"I think she planned this weekend to make sure you knew you were one of us. You're family now Marley."

Marley's face lit up and she blushed lightly. "Thanks, Quinn. You guys have been so good to me. I would be lost with you three."

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. We kinda like you too," she said teasingly to break up the seriousness.

Marley rolled her eyes. "Gee thanks Quinn. You're so wonderful with words." After a brief pause in conversation Marley looked around. "I need to run to the restroom. Is there one in here?" she asked.

"Uhh, I don't think so. There is one just out the door and to the left though." Quinn replied as she pointed the way.

"Ok, I'll be back in a few minutes." Marley set her jacket on the back of her seat and walked out the door.

Not long after she left, Quinn heard her phone chime. She dug through her purse to find it, expecting Santana or Brittany to be looking for them.

**Did you know that Barbra Streisand has sold more than 70 million records worldwide, and is the only artist to have earned honors from all the major award institutions, including two Oscar Awards, one Tony Award, five Emmys, 10 Grammys, 10 Golden Globes, a CableAce Award, the University of Georgia's George Foster Peabody Award and the American Film Institute's Lifetime Achievement Award? -Rachel***

Quinn balked, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. Rachel was so random. Why on earth was she texting this?

**No, Rach, I didn't know that. Was I supposed to? -Q**

**Of course! Everyone should know of the greatness that is Barbra! -Rachel***

**Lol, if you say so. I may have to rely on you as my teacher though. -Q**

Quinn set her phone back down waiting for a reply or for Marley to come back, but as she sat there, her eyes were suddenly engulfed by darkness as two hands covered them.

"Guess who?" she heard whispered in her. She began racking her brain trying to figure out who it could be.

_I'm already with Marley and she isn't the type to do this anyway. There is no way Santana would do this. And that voice was lower than Brittany's. _

Just as she ran out of options she heard _Don't Rain on My Parade_ being hummed in her ear.

"OH MY GOSH!" she exclaimed as she jumped up and smiled widely. "Rachel, what are you doing here?!" She immediately scooped the girl up in her arms and gave her a big hug.

Rachel hugged back as she answered, "Shelby wanted me to help her find some sheet music and be a travel buddy since she had some errands to run in Columbus."

Quinn set her down and pulled a chair up for Rachel. As they sat down Quinn furrowed her brow, "Shelby, who's Shelby? Should I know her?"

Rachel giggled and waved her hand dismissively. "Yes, but you probably know her as Coach Corcoran."

At the revelation, Quinn's eyebrows shot up. "You went on a road trip with your _coach?_ _Why_?" she asked disbelievingly.

Just as the question passed her lips, Marley walked back up to the table. "Sorry I took so long Quinn, there was a little bit of a line." Her eyes widened in surprise as she noticed the petite brunette sitting at their table. "Hello, I'm Marley."

Rachel smiled her 1000-watt smile and extended her hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Rachel Berry."

Marley shook her hand and then took her seat. Quinn took a big drink of her coffee then quickly made eye contact with Rachel. "Where are my manners. Would you like something to drink? I can run and get it for you," she assured Rachel.

Rachel bit her lip as the thought about it. "Yeah, actually I think I will get something. Shelby will be preoccupied for a while," she responded as she nodded her head. "But I can get it for myself, Quinn. I'll be right back."

Quinn's hand shot out to Rachel's arm to stop her as she tried to get up. "No, let me get it. I insist," she said earnestly.

Rachel set her hand on top of Quinn's and smiled. "Well if you insist.. "

"Of course, I do. What would you like?" she asked the girl.

Rachel scrunched her face up in thought "Umm I think a chai tea sounds perfect," she said and smiled.

Quinn started to get up, but Marley stopped her. "Quinn, let me get it. That way you two can catch up a little while I wait for it."

She pondered this for a moment and relented, "Okay, but here, use my card," she said as she dug through her purse. She handed the card to Marley and said her thanks.

After the girl walked off, she turned her focused back on Rachel. "So, we were talking about why you are on a road trip with your coach?" she pushed as she raised her eyebrow.

Rachel waved her off. "It's not as weird as it seems I promise. Shelby and I are..." she paused and licked her lips as she figured out how the describe their relationship. "Well, we are just really close. I've known her my entire life," she responded vaguely. "It's a really long story though. I'll tell you about it later."

Quinn nodded, "Okay, I'm looking forward to it. Knowing you, the story is probably life changing and incredibly dramatic." she teased.

Rachel scoffed and hit Quinn lightly on the shoulder for the barb. "I'll have you know Quinn Fabray that it absolutely is."

They both laughed and Rachel changed the subject. "So who's your little friend?" she asked as she nodded at Marley.

Quinn glanced over at Marley. The girl was waiting patiently for Rachel's drink. "She just transferred to McKinley. Santana, Brittany, and I have kind of taken her under our wing," she answered with a smile.

Marley returned with Rachel's tea and handed Quinn her card back. "Did I miss anything important?" she asked.

Rachel and Quinn both shook their heads. "Naw, just some small talk," Quinn assured her.

Marley turned to Rachel. "So, Rachel, how do you and Quinn know each other?"

Rachel's eyes immediately lit up. "Quinn and I have known each other for a couple of years. I'm the lead singer for Vocal Adrenaline so we have competed a few times." She smirked at Quinn. "Well, more like I competed and Quinn watched on in awe."

Quinn scoffed loudly in protest but panicked a little, she didn't want Rachel to know that Marley was their new soloist. She picked up her phone and quickly texted Marley.

**Whatever you do, don't tell her that you are singing the solo at Regionals. I want it to be a surprise. -Q**

Rachel had turned her attention back to Marley. "Vocal Adrenaline has gone on to win Nationals the last five years. I'm looking forward to another repeat this year."

Marley's eyes widened and she turned to Quinn. "Oh my gosh, is _this_ the girl everyone has been talking about in glee?" she asked as she reached for her phone.

Quinn sighed in relief and she nodded. "One and the same. But you shouldn't have told her that. If her ego inflates any more she might float away." She replied as she raised an eyebrow in challenge at Rachel.

Rachel ignored her and turned back to Marley. "Glee? Are you in New Directions now, as well?" she inquired.

Marley finished reading the text with a puzzled look on her face but nodded discretely at Quinn before answering Rachel. "Yeah, I am. I just transferred to McKinley and Quinn thought it would be a good way for me to meet people."

Rachel nodded, easily accepting the half-truth. "It's true. Well, good luck to you. You're going to need it," she teased as she winked.

A throat cleared behind them. "Well if it isn't the hobbit," Santana said as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.

Rachel's eyes widened slightly. "Hello, Santana, it's good to see you again," she greeted as she tried to keep a straight face.

Santana barked a laugh. "Yeah I'm sure it is. You best be glad Q is here or you would be seeing me exactly the same as you did at the awards ceremony last year," she threatened.

Rachel couldn't suppress the slight tremor of fear at the memory. Santana Lopez was a force to be reckoned with. Quinn slipped her hand over to Rachel's leg and rubbed it slightly in comfort as she addressed Santana. "Down, Satan. We're all friends here."

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her eyes and continued standing by the table. "Where did you pick up the stray anyway?"

Quinn furrowed her brow and looked at Rachel. "Actually she found me. How did you find me, Rach?"

Rachel pointed to the music and book store. "I was actually in there looking at sheet music when I saw you sitting here. I sent you that random text to make sure it was you. I figured if the girl in the window looked at a text and reacted strangely, I would know for sure."

Quinn laughed. "Darn, and to think. I thought you genuinely cared about Barbra Streisand that much."

Rachel looked affronted. "Barbra Streisand is no joking matter."

They laughed lightly. "Wow, you're even nerdier than I pictured," Santana commented surprised. She turned to Quinn. "So Britts and I took the bags to the car already. I parked it just outside. I'm ready to eat and Brittany is waiting for us in the car."

Quinn nodded her head and looked apologetically at Rachel. "I'm sorry to run off, but Satan here is my ride." Her face lit up as she had an idea. "Unless you would like to come have lunch with us?"

"Thank you very much for the offer, but I'm afraid I will have to decline. I have kept Shelby waiting long enough."

Quinn nodded sadly as they all stood up and gathered their trash. Once they made it outside she turned to Rachel. "I'm so glad you were a creeper and saw me across the mall." she teased.

Rachel laughed. "Anytime, sweetheart. I'll see you next week, yeah?" she asked as she opened her arms for a hug.

Quinn immediately responded and squeezed her new friend tightly. "Yeah. I look forward to shocking you at competition, honey bunch." She let go and walked toward Santana and Marley, too focused on Rachel to notice their raised eyebrows and curious looks. They waved goodbye to each other before Quinn turned and walked straight for the exit. Leaving Santana and Marley to run after her confused at Quinn's new friendship.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews, favorites, and follows. It's very exciting to see that people are actually reading this. I also wanted to assure everyone that this is a faberry fic and any Quinn/Marley interaction is strictly on the friendship level, so you can all breathe a sigh of relief. With that said, on with the story! Let me know what you think :)

Santana and Marley caught up to Quinn just as she passed through the exit. They matched her pace and walked on either side of her. "Uh, Quinn?" Santana queried. "What was that all about?"

Quinn turned to look at Santana curiously. "What was what all about?"

"Seriously?" Santana's eyebrows rose as she laughed. "Since when are you all huggy with the hobbit?"

Quinn scoffed in annoyance and gave Santana a glare. "So I gave her a hug when we said goodbye. I didn't realize that was a newsworthy interaction."

"Whatever, Ice Quinn, we all know you aren't the most affectionate person in the world. The only people, other than your family, that I have seen you touch voluntarily are on this trip with us. You don't even touch your boyfriends if you can help it." Santana paused as she unlocked the car and they piled in. As soon as she sat down, she turned to face Quinn and continued. "And now all of a sudden you are all touchy-feely with Streisand. Giving her hugs and playing big bad protector. _Oh_ and calling her _honey-bunch_?! What the hell, Quinn? I thought you guys just talked shit to each other. I didn't know you were actually friends."

Quinn crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "First off, Santana, I don't have to answer to you. I can talk to who I want, when I want. Second, I told you that she was pretty cool. We have been talking a lot lately and I actually like her. Third, it's just some stupid nickname we came up with when we were being dumb. And finally, would _you_ want to touch Finn unless you had to?"

"Yeah, well you got a point there." Santana conceded.

Brittany was glancing back and forth between the two girls as she tried to figure out what was going on. She finally gave up, "Tana, what's going on?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm just trying to figure out why Quinn, here, decided to be all buddy buddy with our competition." She turned her attention to Marley. "Come on, back me up here, Mousy. She was acting weird wasn't she?"

A deer in the headlights look immediately crossed Marley's face as she got thrown in the middle. "Well, um, I mean. Quinn seemed really happy to see her. I don't see why it's a big deal. It's always good to see old friends, right? It seemed like they knew each other pretty well." She gave Quinn a weak smile hoping she had helped her out a little, but Santana took her statement and ran with it.

"No, Marley, it kind of _is_ a big deal. Because they aren't old friends. They are new friends. And a lot better friends than I realized," she replied as she raised an eyebrow.

Quinn cut her with a loud huff. "Will you just leave it alone Santana? Yes, Rachel and I have been getting to know each other. But I don't owe you an explanation. She is just really easy to talk to and I like her. Leave it at that, please" Quinn pleaded. She didn't really understand how it was that she and Rachel had become so close so quickly either. Having Santana pressure her about it wasn't going to help her get answers.

"Whatever." Santana said as she waved her hand dismissively. "I just thought it was weird is all." She turned around to start the car and looked at Brittany. "Have you figured out where we're going to eat yet? I'm really hungry."

"I was thinking Italian food. What do you guys think," Brittany asked as she looked back at Quinn and Marley.

They both nodded. "Sure, sounds good," Quinn told her.

"Hell yeah! I wants to gets my breadsticks on!" Santana yelled as she fist pumped and then headed towards the restaurant.

At the restaurant, Marley and Santana were entertained by Brittany's descriptions of different patrons. She was making up background stories and she and Santana were animatedly creating a dialogue for costumers sitting at various tables. But as the three girls laughed, Quinn was stuck in her own head, barely acknowledging the world around her.

_I can't believe Santana made such a big deal about me and Rachel being friends. I mean, it's not weird, right? We have been talking a lot and people get attached when they share important information about themselves. I mean, sure, I don't tend to talk to people about my life, but that is mostly because I don't want anyone to be able to hold it against me at school somehow. There is like 100% guarantee that Rachel won't spread rumors about me around McKinley. And I can totally make new friends. I'm a friendly person, I mean, I brought Marley into the group and things are going great with that. Granted I haven't told her about my family at all, or really talked to her about anything significant. But that just means that I really trust Rachel. I can talk to her. It's easy, comfortable even. That must be why it just feels so natural to "all huggy" with her. Ugh, I'm way over thinking this. Rachel is just really trustworthy. It's the vibe she gives off. I'm just going to leave it at that. _

Quinn continued to sit in silence and picked at her pasta as Santana and Brittany continued their favorite restaurant game. Even though her mind was running a mile a minute, she was determined to not let Santana's interrogation ruin the happiness she felt when Rachel was involved. Rachel had just managed to make a fun day even brighter and more exciting. She was just going to focus on that and her friends antics for the rest of the day.

She tuned in right as Santana decided to do an impression of Mr. Schue. She clapped three times and waved her hands around as she said "I mean, come on guys. We're a family. That means that the only people we should listen to are Finn and myself, because I totally have a boner for him. We should always sing Journey and other late 80's or early 90's music. Trust me, I have been there. I know how to win a competition!" she exclaimed with wide eyes and a goofy grin. Then she glanced over her shoulder really fast and spoke quickly. "Well guys, that's it for today, I think I just saw Miss Pillsbury walk by and I haven't hit on her all day. See you tomorrow. Come prepared for booty camp!"

The table broke out into peals of laughter. Santana had pretty much covered the highlights of Mr. Schue's pointless rambling.

Once they had recovered and settled their checks they decided to catch a movie before heading back to Lima. They were exhausted by the time they made it back to Santana's house, but the fatigue was well worth it. They had successfully made Marley feel welcome and had a great day achieving it.

Quinn dropped Marley back off at her house and headed home. She walked through the front door and into the living room looking for her mother. She found her lightly dozing in her chair with some lifetime movie playing on the television. Quinn walked over to it and turned the volume down so her mother could sleep more peacefully.

She the walked into the kitchen to get something to drink. After filling a glass with water and began to walk up to her room to work on the large pile of homework she had waiting on her. She had just about exited the kitchen when she changed her mind, turned around, and went back to the island. She picked up a pen and wrote a note to her mother stating that she was home. She wasn't going to be taking any chances on getting in trouble a week before their regionals competition.

She refilled her glass and made her way up the stairs towards her bedroom. As she entered, she found a couple of piles of laundry on her bed waiting to be put up. She set her stuff down and cleared her bed off, thankful her mom did her laundry. She didn't want to handle her sweaty clothes any more than the next person. Once her room was tidied up a bit she collapsed into her desk chair and scrunched her face up in disgust at her bag. Homework was always the worst part of any day.

She was halfway through her physics assignment when she heard her phone go off. Glad for an excuse to take a break, she moved over to her bed where she had left it.

**I'm so excited I got to see you today! That was such a wonderful surprise :) -Rachel***

**I know right. Lucky Santana decided to make a random trip to Columbus. Totally worth it, even if it was a bit of a drive. -Q**

**Definitely! Are you home already? -Rachel***

**Yeah, I got here about an hour ago. I'm currently "working on" physics. Did you make it back yet? -Q**

**I actually just made it. Shelby takes a lifetime picking out music. -Rachel***

**LOL You can hardly judge her, I'm sure you are no different. -Q**

**Touché, sweetheart. One of the qualities I undoubtedly received from her -Rachel***

**Rach, that doesn't make any sense. Why would you receive qualities from your coach? -Q**

**Oh, right. I haven't explained that to you yet. This will be a rather extensive conversation. Can I call you? -Rachel***

**Uh, sure? I could use a break. -Q**

Quinn made herself comfortable on bed and turned her ipod dock on to have something breaking up the silence in her room. A few seconds later, her phone started ringing and she immediately answered it.

"Hey honey bunch, what's up" she asked.

_"Oh nothing, really. I am in my kitchen trying to decide what would be good for dinner. My parents are out so I'm on my own for the evening. Unfortunately they have yet to go grocery shopping, so it's slim pickings around here."_

Quinn laughed lightly. "Well that sounds extremely intriguing and all, but I must admit, it doesn't have quite the possible entertainment value as one Shelby Corcoran seems to hold."

Rachel hummed in agreement. _"Truer words have never been spoken. She would be very pleased to hear that assessment I assure you." _She paused for a moment. _"Well I don't really know how to start this conversation. I think I might just start with my parents. I must warn you, however, you are about to learn a lot about me. Things you would probably never have guessed."_

Quinn immediately perked up at the sound of slight uneasiness in Rachel's voice. "Ok, Rach. I'm listening. And don't worry, you can tell me anything. You know you can trust me, right?"

_"Thank you, Quinn. I do know that. And I sincerely appreciate your reassurance." _She took a deep breath before she began. _"Well I guess the first major point you need to know is that I have two gay fathers. They got married 23 years ago and around 2 years into their marriage they decided, as many married couples do, that they wanted to have children. They tried adopting, but due their homosexual relationship, they were denied and had to explore other avenues. They began to look into using a surrogate, but again, women repeatedly turned them down because they did not want to give a child to a gay couple. Finally, they resorted to putting an ad in the local paper and offer an obscene amount of money in hopes that someone would answer."_

Quinn's jaw was slightly dropped and her eyes wide. Partly because she definitely didn't expect Rachel to be telling her all of this and partly out of disbelief that people could be so cruel to a couple who just wanted a child to love.

_"Finally, after two long years of rejection, a young girl in her late teens called saying she wanted to act as their surrogate. She had dreams of moving to New York to sing on broadway and this was the quickest way she could find to get there. They quickly went forward with the proceedings and very soon after that, I was born. My fathers were ecstatic and profusely thanked the young lady. She waited a few weeks to recover before making her trek to New York, but after being separated from me, she became depressed and couldn't bear to move so far away. She called my fathers and begged them to allow her to be apart of my life. She said that a girl would always need her mother and that she just wanted to be there for me. To love me and see me grow up."_

Quinn was entranced by the story. Although she never would have guessed all of the planning and drama went into the creation of Rachel Berry, she was not surprised at all. That girl was born to be dramatic.

_After several long discussions, it was decided that she would be allowed to take part in my life, but not as a parental figure. More as an aunt or family friend. She began attending a community college and studied music along with getting her teaching degree with the money my fathers had given her. When she was finished, she got a job at the local high school teaching music and eventually bought a house across the road from my fathers. As I grew up, she spent hours on end giving me vocal lessons and taking me to acting and dance classes. She claims that she has never had a prouder moment than when she watched me lead her show choir team to a national championship. _

Quinn balked as Rachel laid out the final pieces of the puzzle connecting her to Shelby Corcoran. It all made sense when she thought about it. Everyone had always dismissed how alike the two women were. Their strong jaws and high cheekbones. Their matching eyes and pouty lips. Even their demeanor was strikingly similar. How had she missed it before? It was so obvious. "Wow, I never would have guessed that you mom is Shelby Corcoran, but I can totally see it now."

Rachel laughed. _"Most people just chalk it up to coincidence, seeing as we have different last names and I don't address her as anything but Coach Corcoran outside my family."_

"Yeah, that is understandable. So not even your teammates on Vocal Adrenaline know?" Quinn asked.

_"No, we didn't want people to claim that she was only giving me lead because I am her daughter. They just assume we are very close because we work together so much." _

"I could definitely see why you would do that. It would make your show choir a lot more like ours: lots of bickering and not much working." Quinn said drolly. "Is it ever weird having your mom coach you all the time?'

_"Umm, not really. I mean, honestly, Shelby is more like a really great friend and mentor than a mother. She is someone I go to for advice or comfort when I need it, but she doesn't take an active parenting role in my life. She is just more of a cheerleader and confidant. We have a very unique relationship. In many ways, she is my best friend."_

"That is so cool," Quinn gushed. "I must admit, I'm slightly jealous. I can't even imagine my mother being a confidant. It just seems awkward," Quinn told her as she made a face.

_"Well I must say, it is one advantage to my unique parentage. I have a much better mother/daughter relationship than just about any other girl I know." _

"Yeah definitely," Quinn said as she chuckled.

_"But anyway, that is why I was out shopping and on a road trip with my show choir coach, and why she has given me certain traits and characteristics."_

"Well it definitely makes a lot more sense now. And it's not nearly as weird as I originally thought it was," Quinn responded. "And, Rach, thanks for telling me. I really appreciate that you felt you could trust me enough to tell me something that not even your teammates and friends know. I'm very honored."

_"Of course, sweetheart. How could I not trust you after how much you have opened up to me?"_ she laughed lightly. _"And honestly, I am slightly freaked out by how much I just trust you. But it just feels right to open up to you, so I'm not going to fight it. I'm just going to hope my instincts are correct and be thankful to have a friend like you."_

Hearing Rachel express the same sentiments Quinn herself was feeling was a big relief. It was good to know that Rachel was just as shocked by the immediate level of trust in this friendship as well. But if Rachel was going to surrender to it, then Quinn decided she would too.

Quinn smiled as she responded. "I'm really thankful to have a friend like you too, honey bunch. I have only been speaking to you for a couple of weeks, but you are already having an impact. Thank you so much for being here for me," She said sincerely.

_"Anytime, Quinn. Thank you for that as well."_

A beeping sound went off in the background and Quinn heard a lot of rustling around. "Everything okay over there?" she asked.

There was some grunting and murmuring before Rachel answered. _"What? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. But hey, my dinner is ready and I'm going to burn myself or something if I don't start paying better attention, so I think I'm going to let you go. I'll talk to you later though alright?"_

Quinn snickered at the image in her head. "Yeah sure, Rach. I'll talk to you later. Have a good evening."

_"You too, sweetheart. Goodnight."_

With that, Quinn hung up the phone. She glanced over at the clock and saw that it was already 6:30. Her stomach immediately started rumbling and she decided her homework could wait a few more hours. She was in much too good a mood to dampen it with physics.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: And the moment you have all been waiting for: REGIONALS! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. On a side note. Is anyone else ecstatic about the new Santana storyline? I have been wanting a Santana/Rachel roommate situation since last season. I'm pretty pumped! Anyway, let me know what you think!

A cold front has swept into the area and, despite it being March, it is freezing outside as they wait for Mr. Schuester to unlock the bus. Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Marley are huddling together for warmth and cursing Mr. Schuester's propensity for being late.

He walks up to the bus slowly, his arms laden with bags, permissions slips, and a coffee. He juggles things around in his arms as he fiddles with the keys and begins to unlock the door.

Everyone crowds in, trying to be the first to step onto the already running and, hopefully, warm bus. Santana effectively bulldozes everyone out of the way and the four girls are the first to feel the relief of the heater. They sigh in satisfaction and make their way towards to back of the bus to grab a seat and go back to sleep.

The competition is in Indianapolis, and although Quinn is excited to make a trip to the city, her exhaustion is winning out at the moment. The competition begins at 11:00 AM, but when you take into account the almost 3 hour drive, and the 2 hours they need to check in, get dressed, and settle their nerves, it makes for an extremely early morning. The group was told to be at the bus at 5:30 and they would be on the road by 6:00.

Quinn hung the garment bag holding her competition dress on the rod above her seat, effectively blocking out the rest of the group. She fluffed her pillow and pulled a blanket out of her bag. After moving around for a bit, trying to find the most comfortable position, she pulled out her ipod and turned it on.

She wasn't in the mood to handle speaking with anyone right now. Quinn before 7:00 AM is always a nightmare, but add nerves to the mix, and people are safer running in the opposite direction.

She closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths trying to relax. As her heartbeat slows and her breathing evens out, she hopes this will be a quick trip. It's time for Rachel Berry to learn that the New Directions are a force to be reckoned with.

* * *

Quinn is jolted awake, completely disoriented. She begins groggily looking around and taking an assessment of her surroundings. Just as she realizes she in on the bus to regionals, something runs into her legs, which had made their way across the aisle to the opposite seat.

"Blondie! Wake the hell up! I'm about to push your ass on the ground if you don't get outs my way!" Santana says gruffly.

Well that answers the question about what pulled her out of dreamland. As she sits up and rubs her face, she pushes her garment bag out of the way so she can see what is going on. Everyone is packing up their stuff and making their way off the bus. "We're here already?" she asks, mostly to herself.

"If you call three hours 'already,' yeah. Now get your ass in gear, Fabray. We've got a hobbit to demolish." Santana says with a smirk as she saunters past Quinn.

Quinn gathers up her things and takes off after her teammates. She finally catches up with them at the check-in table located in the middle of the foyer. Mr. Schuester was at the front of the group handing the attendant their registration papers. The middle aged, balding man scans over their information and begins the process of checking them in. Once he has all of the paperwork sorted, he looks up to Mr. Schuester and hands him a few papers. He then addresses the whole group, "New Directions is assigned to Green Room C. The performance order will be Vocal Adrenaline first, followed by Aural Intensity, and New Directions will finish off the competition." He points to a red headed young woman who looks to be about 20 years old. "Kelsey will lead you to your green room. The competition begins at 11:00 AM and you have two rows of seats reserved for you in the middle of the auditorium. Good luck!"

The group took off following Kelsey around to the back part of the building. They make their way through a long corridor and finally through a set of double doors that lead to their green room. They file in, and Kelsey wishes them luck as she leaves.

Mr. Shuester clears his throat to get the groups' attention. "Okay guys, we have a couple of hours before the competition gets started. I want you to take your time getting ready and relax a bit. I expect you all to be dressed and seated in the audience at 10:45 ready to watch Vocal Adrenaline perform. I'm going to make sure our music is all set up and greet the other coaches. If you need me, I will probably be around the foyer." With that he turns on his heel and walks out of the room.

"Alright, pendejos, out. The girls need to change." Santana says as she makes a shooing motion with her hands.

Kurt shrieks in protest. "What? You can't just kick us out! That's not fair. Y'all are going to take forever, where are we supposed to go?"

"Oh don't even start with me Porcelain, I will go all Lima Heights on yo-"

"ALRIGHT, that's enough." Quinn interrupts. "Santana, let's take our garment bags to a bathroom to get dressed. We need to fix everyone's hair and make-up and will need lots of mirrors. It will just be easier for everyone."

Santana seems to think it over for a moment and finally relents with a casual "whatever" and a glare thrown in the direction of Kurt's smug smile.

All of the girls trek back towards the foyer and to the restroom farthest from the main entryway, assuming it would get the least traffic. Quinn makes it to the restroom ahead of the group and a slow smile creeps onto her face with the sight that greets her.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss Rachel Berry." she drawls to the girl making final adjustments to her hair in front of the sink.

Rachel turns slowly with a stoic face. "Fabray," she states evenly as she gives a courteous nod.

Quinn raises an eyebrow in response and tries to maintain her look of superiority, but as they stare each other down for a few seconds, her mouth begins to twitch as a smile pushes through.

Rachel finally lets loose her 1000-watt smile and lunges at Quinn to give her a hug. "I've missed you," she says quietly next to Quinn's ear.

Quinn smiles and squeezes a little tighter. "Me, too," she responds.

The two are still caught in the embrace as Santana barges through the door. She groans, "Oh my God, not this crap again. Fabray!" she barks as the two girls part. "Have I taught you nothing? This is the ENEMY." she states as she gestures towards Rachel. "We don't _hug_ enemies," she finishes with a sneer.

"It's always nice to see you too Santana," Rachel greets drolly. "Although it will be much nicer to see you pouting when I'm holding the 1st place trophy this afternoon."

Both Quinn and Santana's eyes widen in shock. Neither had expected Rachel to be brave enough to talk trash to Santana. Apparently the competition high was making Rachel overtly confident.

Santana regains her bearings and shifts into her HBIC glare. The rest of the New Directions girls suddenly fear for Rachel's well-being. "Best be watching yourself midget," she warns. "I'd would _so_ hate to see you eat your own words." she finishes sarcastically.

Rachel laughs lightly. "I'm sure you would." She turns her attention back to Quinn, who was still standing next to her, and lays her hand on the girl's arm. "Quinn, I will talk to you after the competition," she says quietly. With a light squeeze she begins to make her way through the crowd of New Directions girls and turns back when she reaches the door. "Good luck to you all. You're going to need it," she calls with a wink as she exits.

Santana is practically growling. "What a little midget bitch!"

Quinn just rolls her eyes at the girl's predictability. "Santana, don't be redundant. She's just trying to rile you up." She turns to the rest of the girls. "Well, what are you all waiting for? Let's get ready."

After styling their hair, applying makeup, and changing, the group of girls head back to the green room to check on the boys. They find them lined up in front of Kurt waiting to have their ties tied for them. As Kurt puts the finishing touches on Blaine's, the boy pouts. "I still don't see why we couldn't wear bow-ties."

Kurt sympathetically pats his cheek and says, "Maybe next time."

Once everyone is ready to go, Quinn leads the group back out to the foyer and then into the auditorium to their reserved seats. Santana and Brittany sit on one side of Quinn, while Marley takes the other.

While Santana and Brittany talk quietly to each other, Quinn turns to Marley. "How are you feeling? Excited?"

Marley lets out a faltering laugh. "Uh, maybe a little. Mostly just nervous though. I have heard everyone talking about how Rachel is so unbelievable. I'm afraid I won't be able to measure up."

Quinn nods understandingly and the lights go down as the emcee takes the stage to welcome everyone and introduce Vocal Adrenaline. "Don't worry about it too much," she whispers. "You'll be fine."

They turn their attention back to the stage as the curtain begins to rise revealing Rachel standing in a spot light at center stage with the rest of Vocal Adrenaline standing in the shadows behind her. Quinn's eyes lock on Rachel immediately. The girl looks stunning in her blue haltered dress. A piano begins to play followed by a deep timpani roll.

Rachel takes a deep breath and begins to sing in a strong, clear voice. Quinn is so distracted by the purity of Rachel's voice that it takes her a while to recognize the song as _It's All Coming Back To Me Now_. The entire audience is entranced by the level of emotion pouring out of the petite brunette. Rachel closes her eyes and pushes her arms out as the song builds to it's climax. When she reaches the end, it takes a second for the crowd to emerge out of their dazed states. When they do, applause floods the auditorium and Rachel takes a quick bow as she moves back to meet Jesse for their duet followed by a very impressive group number. Both songs had incredible choreography, perfectly timed with lifts and even a few backflips to really wow the audience and judges.

New Directions sat utterly stunned at the level of competition Vocal Adrenaline brought this year. Mr. Schuester finally grabbed their attention by clapping loudly. "Okay guys, we need to head back to the green room to warm up during the intermission and Aural Intensity's performance. Let's go," he said as he guided them forward like a group of zombies.

When they finally made it to the green room, Quinn noticed how visibly shaken up everyone was. Her eyes landed on Marley. The girl was as white as a ghost and shaking. She approached the girl silently and dipped her head to catch Marley's eyes.

"Marley," she called. "Marley, I need you to look at me." Marley finally managed to look up and meet Quinn's gaze. "Tell me what you're thinking," she commanded steadily.

Marley took a deep breath and in a panicked voice she began rambling. "Oh my gosh, Quinn. I had no idea what I was going up against. She is a seasoned performer. Practically a professional. What was I thinking? I can't do this. We have no chance. I'm not good enough. Everyone here is counting on me to win this for us, be the secret weapon or whatever, and I'm just not cut out for it. I'm going to let the whole team down. I can't. I just- I just - I can't!" she proclaimed as the level of her voice rose.  
Quinn cut her off before she worked herself into a frenzy. "Marley, stop. Take a deep breath." She complied and Quinn continued. "Everything is going to be just fine. We gave you this spot because you are the best chance we have. I want you to think back to the last rehearsal we had. You nailed it. We all nailed it. Our performance was incredible. You just need to do what you do. Be you. Give it your all and do you best and we will be just fine. That is all we want from you, okay?" she said gently.

Marley took another deep breath and nodded. "Yeah, okay. Just do my best."

Quinn smiled a little. "That's right. Let me see all of the emotion you keep bottled up in that little body of yours. That's all I ask of you. We put our best foot forward and we will leave happy."

"Okay. I can do that."

Quinn turned to the rest of the group. "Alright guys, everyone needs to take a deep breath. We are going to be just fine. I know Vocal Adrenaline was better than expected, but we are going to be better than they expected as well. We have been preparing for weeks and we are ready for this. Our last few rehearsals we have been better than I ever dreamed we could be. So pull it together. It's time to go prove ourselves." She said encouragingly.

As she spoke, she could see the members of New Directions bolstering themselves and putting their game faces on. Once they had their confidence back, they started on their warmups until Kelsey knocked on the door.  
"Okay, New Directions, you're up next." She motioned for them to follow her backstage.

They lined up in their positions and Quinn sent a silent prayer up for her teammates. She was really glad they were starting with their duet. Since Tina and Blaine had been on the stage several times, they were sure to leave any stage fright behind and kick off the set with a wonderful performance.

Once Tina and Blaine nailed the duet, New Directions had officially found their groove. Marley took center stage and started out in her solo. After trying out a few songs, they found that she seemed to project the most emotion and stage presence while singing _Chasing Pavements_ and kept it as her solo for the competition.

Quinn smiled proudly in the background as the freshman sang better than she had ever seen. She could only imagine how great Marley was going to be when the girl was a senior.

During the group song, everyone hit their cues and harmonized perfectly. Quinn had to hand it to Brittany and Mike, the choreography was amazing and everyone executed it with precision.

The group excitedly made their way back to the green room to await the results. Everyone was hugging and jumping around.

"This is the best performance we have ever had!" Kurt squealed as he hugged Blaine.

"Damn straight, Lady Hummel!" Santana agreed.

Mercedes made her way over to Marley. "Well, I gotta hand it to you white-girl, you've got one hell of a voice. And even if we don't win this, we still did better than I ever thought we could. Congratulations, girl."

Quinn smiled at the small exchange. _Looks like Marley is officially part of the family now_.

Their excited chatter started calming down and everyone sat around the room waiting for Kelsey to retrieve them.

After twenty minutes of waiting, they were ushered back out to the stage to hear the results.

The emcee thanked everyone for their performances and the audience for their support before he opened the envelope with the results.

"In third place, we have Aural Intensity!" The groups' lead singer walked forward to accept their small trophy.

Quinn, Marley, Santana, and Brittany all joined hands in anticipation. They still had shot at winning and moving onto nationals in New York City.

"And in second place, the New Directions from McKinley High! Which makes the winners Vocal Adrenaline of Carmel High School! Congratulations!"

The groups' faces dropped as they realized their dream of nationals was over for the year. Quinn maintained her composure and walked over to retrieve their second place trophy. As she made her way back to her team, she looked at Rachel who was buried in Jesse's arms. They met each other's gaze and Quinn gave a smile and a small nod to the brunette. Rachel returned her it with her own, much larger smile and turned back to Jesse as he gave her a big kiss.

They made their way back to the green room in a much more subdued manner than their previous trip. Surprisingly, it was Santana who spoke up first. "I don't know about you guys, but this just makes me want to beat their asses even more next year. If we could improve this much in just a few weeks, just think how much better we will be in a year. They won't know what hit them." The group perked up a little and nodded in assent. Santana turned to Marley and quietly added, "You kicked butt, little one. I'm really proud of you," and squeezed the young brunette's hand before making her way over to Brittany.

Mr. Schuester walked into the room soon after. "Alright everyone. I know this isn't exactly what you wanted, but you still did an amazing job. That was the best performance I have ever seen you do and I'm looking forward to what we can put together next year. I'm going to give you an hour to get changed and talk to your parents before we leave. I expect everyone back on the bus before 3:00."

Quinn grabs her stuff and heads to the restroom to change back into her casual clothes. When she is done, she walks out into the foyer to look for her parents. She spots them standing off to the side by themselves, immaculately dressed. She approaches them quietly with a sad smile on her face.

Her mother's face takes on a sympathetic look after she spots Quinn. "Oh, Quinnie," she breathes out. "We're so sorry you couldn't pull of a win. You still performed well though." She adds as she give Quinn a small hug.

Her father pats her on the back and agrees. "Yes, sweetie. You did very well. Too bad you couldn't come out on top." He says in a patronizing tone. "I guess you aren't quite as dominant here as you are in Cheerios. Better work on that for next year, huh?"

Quinn grimaces at her father's idea of encouragement, but she nods as she says, "Yes, daddy. I think we will be much better after a year of practicing. We will definitely grow a lot during that time."

"Good to hear." he tells her as he nods approvingly. "Well, your mother and I must be going. I have a small business meeting and dinner to attend before we head back to Lima. Text your mother when you make it home safely." he instructs her.

_Well that certainly explains their clothes_.

Russell begins to lead Judy away, but she turns back towards Quinn as she walks. "Oh, and dear, there are leftovers in the fridge, or I left some money on the island for takeout if you would prefer."

With that they are gone and Quinn begins to scan the people remaining in the foyer. Just off the main entrance, she spots Rachel with an African American man and a small Jewish man. She assumes these must be Rachel's fathers. They are all gesturing wildly and smiling broadly. The sight makes Quinn grin to herself as she observes them. She has never seen the brunette so radiant, so completely consumed with joy.

Suddenly, she feels a presence to her right. She looks over to see Shelby Corcoran standing next to her and joining her silent observation.

"She really is something special, isn't she?" Shelby asks quietly.

"Absolutely." Quinn breathes out in admiration.

While her attention is still encompassed by Rachel, Shelby turns to Quinn. "So, I'm assuming you must be Quinn Fabray?"

This startles Quinn and she turns quickly to look at Shelby, confused. "Um, yes.. How did you know that?"

Shelby smiles at the girl and let's out a small laugh. "Rachel talks about you all the time. 'Quinn did this, Quinn said that.' She's given me such a detailed description of you, there is no way I couldn't have picked you out of the crowd."

Quinn blushes and glances back to Rachel. "I didn't realize I was that important."

"Hmm, well if you haven't realized it yet, you will soon. From the sound of things, you are pretty special." Shelby replies quietly. She nods in the direction of Rachel and her fathers and Quinn looks up to see Rachel approaching her a little unsurely. Shelby smiles at Rachel and walks towards Rachel's fathers to give the girls some privacy.

When she reaches Quinn, she gives her a smile. "Hello, Quinn."

"Hey, Rach." Quinn says as she smiles back.

"New Directions' performance was amazing. The best I have ever seen from you guys. I have to admit, I never expected Marley to be your new soloist or to be so good," Rachel admits.

Quinn laughs lightly. "Yeah, I was trying to keep that a surprise. And thank you. But Rach," she says seriously as she makes steady eye contact. "You're going to nationals! It's okay to celebrate!" she exclaims.

Rachel's face immediately transforms from a demure happiness to pure elation. She immediately pulls Quinn into a tight hug. "I know, I'm so excited!" she squeals into Quinn's ear.

Quinn holds her tightly for a little bit and then reluctantly releases her. "Congratulations." She gives the little brunette a reminiscent smile as she adds. "Gosh, honey bunch, you were so incredible. I was completely swept away by your performance. It was... mesmerizing," she quietly breathes out.

Rachel blushes in a rare show of humility and shyness. "Thank you. Shelby and I have been working on it for months."

"Of course you have." Quinn laughs as she shakes her head.

She looks up and sees that most of the New Directions have left the foyer and made their way to the bus. She turns back to Rachel, knowing she needs to get going. "I think my bus is leaving soon," she says regretfully. "But, listen, you guys were amazing. And if New Directions can't make it to nationals, then you better get a repeat championship and represent our region well," she tells Rachel seriously.

"Of course, Quinn. Could you expect any less from us?" Rachel says with a smirk.

"You and that ego of yours!" Quinn says in mock exasperation. She pulls Rachel into a hug as they laugh. They hold each other tightly for a moment before Quinn says, "I have to go now, honey bunch."

"But I'm going to miss you," Rachel protests.

"I know, I'll miss you too." Quinn pulls back. "We will talk soon though. And we will meet up okay. Spend the day together? Maybe you can spend the weekend at my house or something?"

A huge grin flies across Rachel's face. "I would love that, sweetheart. We'll figure something out soon, okay?"

"Okay," Quinn agrees. "I have to go now. I'll see you soon. Congrats, again!" Quinn calls as walks backwards to the door.

Once she makes it to the parking lot she realizes she has a permanent grin on her face and shakes her head. No, today did not turn out like she wanted it to, but she's okay with it. Of course she wanted to win, but she knew Rachel wanted it more. _Deserved_ it more. And if it makes Rachel _that_ happy, well... she can deal with a little disappointment every now and then.


	9. Chapter 9

Quinn rushes around her room making final adjustments. She looks at her desk covered with papers and notebooks from various classes. She decides it's too cluttered and hurriedly stacks them up and shoves them into her drawer. She can worry about that mess later.

She turns around and faces the rest of her room, scanning every detail to make sure it is impeccable. Her duvet is slightly bunched up so she grabs at the edges and pulls to smooth it out some. With a final glance around the room, she decides it is finally presentable.

She bounces downstairs to wait in the living room, shaking with nervous energy. After about two minutes she decides she can't sit still any longer and makes her way into the kitchen to get some water. And maybe pace. Yeah, she'll do that too.

Her mother is sitting at the bar reading the newspaper, she looks up when Quinn enters. "Oh, hello dear. All ready? Room cleaned?" she asks.

"Uh, yeah. I just finished it up." Quinn answered as she brings a glass to her mouth. After downing the whole glass, she sets it in the sink and begins to tap her fingers on countertop. When she continues non-stop for 30 seconds, Judy raises an eyebrow at her and sets the paper down.

"Sweetie, how much longer? It should be pretty soon, right?" She asks Quinn.

Quinn glances over to the clock above the sink. It's 4:55 PM. "Only about five more minutes, mom. I was told five o'clock."

Judy hums. "Okay, good. I don't know how much longer I can take your nervous excitement."

Quinn had been pacing like a caged lion for the last six days. It was Spring Break and she had done nothing but talk about and prepare for this weekend. Since the regionals competition a couple of weeks ago, she had been making plans for Rachel to come spend the weekend in Lima. It just so happened that their Spring Breaks lined up, and so after going to spend the beginning of her break with some family in Chicago, Rachel was going to end the week with Quinn.

As soon as the plans were set, Quinn began cleaning like a mad woman. She wanted to make sure everything was perfect for Rachel's visit and she was about to burst at the seams in anticipation.

Just as Quinn began pacing back and forth in the kitchen, the doorbell went off. She immediately sprung into action, running to the front door and yelling, "I got it!"

In her haste, she forgot she was only wearing socks and consequently slammed into the door as she tried to stop. Her head on collision sent her reeling and she landed hard on her butt. "_Ow" _She whined, "I think I just broke my tailbone."

Remembering that Rachel was standing outside her door, she scrambled up as quickly as she could and finally opened the door. She tried to maintain her composure and act cool, hopefully Rachel hadn't heard her fall and wouldn't notice that she was out of breath.

"Rachel! Hey!" She said between deep breaths.

Rachel had an eyebrow raised and a hand covering her mouth to hide her smirk, trying to keep a straight face she greeted Quinn. "Hello, Quinn. Umm, are you alright there?" She asked trying to hold in a laugh.

Quinn's face immediately flushed and she looked down. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I just... I... well," she sighed and rolled her eyes at herself. "To be completely honest, I was running to get the door and slipped on the tile, hit the door, and possibly broke my tailbone." She immediately grimaced at herself, _Oh my gosh could I be any more lame?_

Rachel snorted in amusement before her eyes got and wide face serious. "Oh my gosh, I guess I should probably see if you really are okay. You don't really think you broke it, do you? Should I take you to a doctor? We should probably get x-rays just to-"

Quinn interrupted her with a laugh. "Rach, I'm fine. Seriously. I think I mostly just bruised my pride."

"Oh, right. Of course."

"Anyway, now that we have got that settled, please, come in." Quinn told Rachel as she picked up the brunette's bag. She pointed toward a doorway. "The living room is just through there. I'm going to run this up to my room and I'll be right back. Make yourself at home."

As Rachel wandered into the living room, Quinn dashed upstairs and set the bag down just inside her room. When she rejoined Rachel, the girl was busy studying the family portrait that hung above the fireplace. "That was taken about 4 years ago. I was still in my awkward phase." Quinn told her as she scrunched her nose in disgust.

Rachel turned to look at her, "Oh please, if that was your awkward phase then you can never see mine. It was dreadful." Rachel shook her head and gestured towards the eldest of the two girls. "I take it that is your sister?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, Francine. Well, we all call her Frannie. She is following my father's footsteps at Harvard Law."

Rachel's eyes widened, seemingly impressed. "Wow, that's... incredible actually."

"Yeah. Something like that." Quinn drawled. "My mother is just in the kitchen. She is dying to meet you."

The two girls made their way through the house and into the kitchen. Judy was busy getting out ingredients for their dinner that night. Her father was out of state once again on business, so it would be just the girls this weekend. Judy had elected to stay home this time since Quinn was having company.

She looked up as the two girls entered. "Hello, dear. You must be Rachel." She smiled at the little brunette. "I'm Quinn's mother, but you can call me Judy."

Rachel sent her a beaming smile and small wave. "Yes, I am. It is very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for having me in your home. I'm very excited to be here."

Judy waved her off. "Oh, it's no trouble at all, sweetie. We are very happy to have you. What are you girls up to tonight?"

Rachel looked to Quinn and Quinn shrugged. "I don't know, mom. We haven't really talked about it, yet."

"Okay, well dinner should be ready in about an hour if that helps you make any plans." She looked to Rachel. "Oh and don't worry, dear, Quinn told me that you are vegan, so I found some vegan recipes to fix this weekend."

Rachel's face lit up, "Thank you very much. You really didn't have to though. I would have been fine with just a salad."

"Nonsense! I can't have a guest just eating salad for her entire stay!" Judy exclaimed in horror.

"Well, I greatly appreciate it. Do you want any help?"

"Hmm, that could be nice. Then you can make sure I don't accidentally add anything I'm not supposed to." She winked at Rachel.

Quinn rolled her eyes at the exchange. There was a lot of sucking up going on here, but she hadn't figured out who the worst offender was yet. "Well, let's get started then, yeah? This food isn't going to cook itself. What do you want us to do, mom?"

"Oh, of course." Judy clapped her hands. "Well, I'm just going to fix a stir fry. So I can work on the sauce if you two will chop up the vegetables for me." She moved the vegetables to the island. "Quinnie, will you get two cutting boards out? And Rachel, there are knives over in that corner drawer there." she said as she pointed the girl in the right direction.

As the two girls chopped, Judy made small talk. "So Rachel, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"Well, I'm 17. A Junior at Carmel High in Dayton. I am co-captain of the show choir at my high school. I live and breath broadway, and I aspire to be a lead actress in the musical theatre genre someday. I plan to go attend college at NYADA after high school because they have one the finest musical theatre programs in the country and I'm sure I will be able to make a lot of connections while I am there." Rachel informed her as she cut up some zucchini.

"Oh that is wonderful, dear! You have some beautiful aspirations." Judy nodded in approval. After a moment of thinking she added, "Wait, did you say you were in Carmel High's show choir? Quinn, isn't that the group that beat you at Regionals?"

Rachel smirked and waggled her eyebrows at Quinn. Quinn narrowed her eyes and teasingly shook her knife at Rachel before answering. "Yes, mom. They are. Rachel was the one who sang the solo during their performance."

"Oh my goodness! No wonder I thought you looked familiar!" Judy said and she spun around to look at Rachel. "You are a fabulous singer! I was just blown away by your voice. It's hard to believe it came out of someone so tiny!" she gushed with her hands clasped over her heart. "Good luck at Nationals. I am just so excited for you! When is the competition?"

Rachel blushed slightly at the attention. "Thank you very much. We have actually won the last two years, so we are hoping to keep the streak running. I believe the competition is the second weekend in May, but we usually get to spend most of the week prior on location. The competition starts on Thursday, so we need a few days to get accustomed to our new surroundings and get some practice in before it starts," she explained as she finished chopping the vegetables.

Quinn gathered everything up and transferred the ingredients to the wok Judy had sitting on the stove. She and Rachel then moved to sit at the bar facing Judy as she worked.

"Three possible National Championships?" Judy's eyes widened. "That is quite impressive young lady. We are hoping Quinn can manage that feat next year with her Cheerios!" she winked playfully at them.

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, mom. We are already working on it. Coach Sylvester and I are holding tryouts for next year in a couple of weeks. She wants to get started on our new routines as soon as possible."

"That's good to hear. You need to stay on top of these things. They will look excellent on your college applications, won't they Rachel?

Rachel nodded vigorously. "Oh, yes. I am very hopeful that I will be able to put four time National Show Choir Champion on my applications. That is quite a feat."

"It is indeed. Where is the National competition this year?" Judy asked.

Rachel's eyes lit up. "It's in New York City! I'm so excited to be going back. I haven't been there in several years." she told her excitedly.

"Well, I'm sure you will have a very successful trip. Why don't you girls go wash up for dinner? It should be ready in just a few minutes."

The two girls nodded as they hopped up from their seats and Quinn led them to the downstairs bathroom. When they made it into the bathroom Rachel looked over to Quinn with a small smile. "I like your mom. She seems really nice."

Quinn scoffed as she scrubbed at her hands. She hoped the smell of onion didn't linger for too long. "Ugh, you're only saying that because she complimented you so heavily." She elbowed Rachel. "She was practically salivating as she reminisced about your solo. She probably wishes you were her daughter now instead of me."

Rachel rolled her eyes and laughed lightly. "Yeah, right. Miss Practically Perfect in Every Way. There's no way she would trade you in for me."

Quinn picked up the hand towel and dried her hands off. "Hmm. We shall see, but keep on sucking up and you may never make it home. Consider this your warning."

"Noted. Shelby would kill me if I were to miss rehearsals on Sunday, so I better watch my step from now on," she winked at Quinn as they made their way back to the kitchen for dinner.

* * *

After dinner, Quinn and Rachel volunteered to do the dishes. Rachel leaned against the countertop as Quinn finished putting up the last of the dishes. After closing the cabinet she turned to face Rachel. "So, I was thinking since it's Thursday, we could just watch a couple of movies and hang out here tonight? Then tomorrow go hang out with some people. Probably San, Britt, and Marley. If that is cool with you?" She asked.

Rachel nodded amicably. "Yeah, sure," she responded. "A movie night sounds good. Where to?"

Quinn thought about it for a second. Her mother was probably in the living room so that was out. She was not down for spending an evening with her mom. That left the downstairs media room or her bedroom. "Well, that's up to you. We have a game/media room in the basement. It's got a huge HD screen with surround sound. Or we can hang out in my bedroom and watch them there. That way if you are feeling lazy or tired we won't have to go up two flights of stairs to make it to bed."

Rachel weighed the options and looked at the clock. "It's only 7:30. Much too early to head to bed. So how about this: We watch the first downstairs. Then, after it's over, we go upstairs, get ready for bed and watch the second. That way it's no big deal if we fall asleep. Sound good?"

Quinn nodded. "Follow me, then, milady." She guided Rachel through the dining room into a second living area. It is hardly ever used except for when her father has formal dinner parties. They walked to a closed door off in the back of the room. She opened it and let Rachel head down the stairs first.

The staircase turned back towards the main body of the house and revealed a room that was as large as the entire floor plan of the house above. Quinn watched Rachel's jaw drop open as she took in the billiards, shuffle board, and air hockey tables. Beyond that, there was a sound proofed glass wall that separated the media room. It had a fully stocked kitchen and refrigerator along the back. There were two overstuffed black leather chairs between two overstuffed couches angled toward what had to be at least a 75" flatscreen TV mounted on the wall. "Oh my god," she breathed out and turned to Quinn with wide eyes. "Is this even real? I mean I could tell by the house that your family had money, but god, Quinn. This is crazy!"

Once Quinn had finished chuckling at the awe on Rachel's face and began to explain as she led them toward the media room. "Well, my dad is a really well-known lawyer in Ohio, even Indiana. Has his own practice and what-not." She waved her hand as she opened the door for them. "He has lots of big shot clients over to the house, and apparently my dad has found no better way to gain a client and make them bend to his will than put shiny new toys in front of their faces. I don't really get it, but hey, I get to reap the benefits."

Rachel nodded dumbly as she studied the room from one of the couches.

Quinn shook her head in amusement and pointed to a shelving unit. "So, the movies are over there. You can go pick one out and I'm gonna grab some water. Do you want something to drink? We have got just about everything imaginable down here."

Rachel answered as she made her way over to the collection of movies. "I think just a bottle of water is good for me, thank you."

As Quinn grabbed two bottles out of the refrigerator she heard and excited gasp.

"Oh my gosh! You have _The Hunger Games_?! We have to watch this. Please? I was late to the party and just finished the books. I haven't had the opportunity to watch the movie yet!" Rachel rushed out with enthusiasm.

She gave Quinn her best puppy dog face, complete with pouty lips as she brought the water and a blanket over to the couch.

"You haven't seen _The Hunger Games _yet? What rock have you been living under?" Quinn looked at Rachel in disbelief. "Ok, yeah bring it to me. Apparently you need some help in pop culture. You _have_ to see this."

She grabbed the box from Rachel and moved towards the front of the room. "Why don't you go get settled and I'll put this in." As she set the movie up, she had another thought. "Oh and I got a blanket for myself because I can't really watch movies at home with out one, but if you want one, I can grab another for you."

She turned around to see that Rachel had already gotten comfortable underneath the blanket she left on the couch. Rachel looked down at the blanket sheepishly. "I don't mind sharing if that is okay with you?"

"Yeah, that's fine." Quinn told her as she grabbed the remotes and made her way over to the couch. She settled in close to Rachel and turned on the TV and surround sound. The movie started and they shifted around a little trying to settle in.

Quinn actually hadn't seen the movie since opening night when she went with Santana and Brittany. Santana would of course vehemently deny that she stood in line at the opening of a movie, but Quinn knew she was a huge fangirl over Katniss Everdeen. Brittany might have some real competition if Santana ever met Jennifer Lawrence.

She was really drawn into the movie as Prim's name is called at the reaping and Katniss frantically volunteers to take her sister's place. Suddenly, Rachel is grasping at her hand and squeezing as tears roll down her face. Quinn looks at her questioningly, and Rachel sadly responds, "I just hated this part of the book so much. It's so heart-wrenching." She wipes her eyes and continues seeking comfort in Quinn's hand.

Once Katniss and Peeta finally make it onto the train and into the Capitol, Quinn expects Rachel to release her hand due to lack of drama. Instead, Rachel has shifted their hands between them and is still grasping it softly. She is slightly distracted by this, but figures Rachel is probably just a touchy person.

When the interview comes around and Katniss' dress is revealed Rachel gasps softly and whispers, "It's even better than I imagined it."

Quinn squeezes lightly at her hand, "She's really beautiful. It's such a great dress."

As the games progess, Quinn shifts a little uncomfortably. Rachel apparently isn't very good at keeping still, because a few minutes ago, her thumb idly began stroking Quinn's palm and Quinn doesn't really know what to think of that. _Why is she doing that? Maybe it's just a nervous habit kind of thing. I mean the part with Rue is coming up and that is definitely the saddest part of the book. It's probably just nervous energy. Besides... it feels... kinda nice.._

Rachel inhales sharply as Rue goes to the ground. She and Quinn had slowly moved closer to each other and she immediately buried her face into Quinn's shoulder. "I can't watch, it's too sad." She whispered.

Quinn turned her head to look at the girl and moved her arm to hold Rachel's shoulders. "But Rach, you have to watch. This part is so well-done." She rubbed Rachel's arm through the scene to console the girl and Rachel snuggled into her side, making herself comfortable.

They sat that way enraptured for the rest of the movie. When it was over, Quinn got up and turned the lights on. "So what did you think?" she asked as she put the movie up.

"It was .. it was incredible. I can't believe how well they made it. It was even better than my imagination." She paused and thought for a second while she folded the blanket. "Of course, they left a few pieces out, but what movie doesn't? We can't have everything in there. They did a really great job though. Thank you for letting me watch it. Jesse refused to watch it with me last weekend."

Quinn laughed at that. "No problem, Rach. And I still maintain that St. Jerkface is a douche. This is just further proof," she teased.

Rachel stuck out her tongue at the jibe. "Whatever, Fabray. You're just jealous that you haven't found your leading man yet."

Quinn's eyebrows shot up. "Sure," she said sarcastically. "That's it." She put the rest of the stuff in the media room back and turned everything off. "Ready to go upstairs? I have a set of movies in my room as well so we can just choose one from there."

Rachel followed Quinn up the stairs. "Yeah I'm definitely ready to get into some more comfortable clothes."

When they made it up to Quinn's room, she pointed over to a corner. "I put your bag over there. My bathroom is just through that door. You can go ahead and use it first, I'll just change while I'm waiting. I put towels and washcloths out for you. Let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Rachel nodded her head as she grabbed her bag and headed into the bathroom. After the door closed, Quinn walked over to dresser and pulled out some shorts and a cotton shirt. She quickly changed and tossed her clothes into her hamper.

She could hear Rachel still using the sink in the bathroom, so she decided to turn down the bed while she waited. Then, she sat on the bed and grabbed her remote to flip through the channels. Immediately she came across _Mean Girls_ which was one of her guilty pleasure movies. It had just begun, so she decided she would indulge a little until Rachel could pick another movie.

A few minutes later, Rachel walked back into the bedroom. "All yours," she said cheerily.

Quinn hopped up. "Right, so my movies are over on those shelves. Feel free to browse through them and pick one. I'll be right out."

She walked into the bathroom and made quick work of her nightly routine so that Rachel wouldn't have to wait on her for too long. When she came back out, she found Rachel snuggled up in the bed watching _Mean Girls. _Quinn turned out the overhead light and flipped on a lamp before crawling into bed.

Rachel looked over at Quinn. "I hope you don't mind, but I saw this was on and decided I wanted to watch it. I haven't seen it in forever, but I love this movie." she told the blonde quietly as she picked at the blanket.

Quinn gave her a small smile after she got settled. "Don't worry. This is one of my guilty pleasure movies, too."

Rachel laughed lightly in response. "Good to know. I know the situations in this movie are kind of extreme, but it amazes me how accurately they portray the self-centeredness of the average high school girl. This is so much like my own high school." she said as she scrunched her nose up in disgust. "I hate it."

Quinn turned to look at Rachel with her mouth slightly open, confused. "Wait a second. I thought that Vocal Adrenaline were like gods at your school. If you are the captain doesn't that make you like the Queen Bee? Doesn't everyone want to be you, be in your place?" she asked with her brow furrowed.

Rachel huffed and rolled her eyes. "I guess so, but just like Regina George I don't have any real friends there. Everyone is either using me for popularity or biding their time until I make a mistake and they can take my place. It's really sickening."

"Oh my god, I know! It's awful. If it weren't for San and Britt... and well Marley now, I guess. I wouldn't have any friends at all. All the cheerios are just waiting for an opportunity to get me back for all the hard practices I run. Most of the glee club resent my popularity, or just don't really talk that much in general. And the guys, gosh don't even get me started on the guys. Most of them just want to screw us and put another notch on their belt." Quinn exclaimed exasperatedly.

Rachel sat up and faced Quinn fully eyes wide and nodding wildly. "It's ridiculous right? For instance, there is this girl, who just moved in this past year. I think she is a sophomore." she trailed off as she tried to confirm that and then waved the thought off with her hand. "It doesn't matter, anyway, she is younger than us and she is a really great singer. Not quite as advanced as I am in training, but she has great potential and quite the stage presence. Well, _Harmony_," she spits the name out with disgust, "decides that she is better than I am and that other people need a chance to shine in Vocal Adrenaline. So she starts like trying to sabotage my performances. Trying to distract me or messing up my music. Putting things in my food to make me sick on try-out day for solos. Even trying to find ways to embarrass me in front of the whole school thinking I might step down in shame." she narrows her eyes at the memories. "The girl is horrible. When that didn't work, she started trying to suck up to Shelby, thinking that she could brown-nose her way into a solo. Little does she know that I'm Shelby's daughter and she knows every little thing that bitch has said and done to me. She will be lucky to get a solo even after I'm gone with how much Shelby already hates her. I'm sure she will try any possible option before allowing Harmony to take center stage." Rachel snorts a laugh. "Seriously though, the girl is insufferable. I honestly don't think there is anything she wouldn't do to try to take me down." she sighs in exasperation and shakes her head. "I don't even know what to do. I'm just so tired of dealing with it."

Throughout Rachel's story, Quinn's eyes have widened of their own accord. Never had she experienced a person so single-mindedly determined to destroy her reputation and standing. She could not even imagine how draining and frustrating that would be.

She reached across the bed and pulled Rachel into a tight hug. "I am so sorry, Rach. You should never have to deal with that." She ran her hands up and down the girl's back in comfort. "I can't believe how horrible she is. What are you going to do?"

Rachel burrowed into Quinn and sighed deeply. When she spoke it was muffled by Quinn's shoulder. "I don't know... I'm not one to retaliate no matter what people do to me. I just like to stay above it all and let them think they have no affect on me whatsoever. But this is really wearing on me. I just wish I had more people on my side. Unfortunately, so many people are vying to see my fall from grace that she has several supporters within the club. I just don't know what to do anymore." She said as she pulled back from Quinn and slumped back onto the pillows.

Quinn reached across the gap between them and grabbed Rachel's hand. "Hey, look at me." After Rachel look up, she continued. "I know this is probably really hard, but there is no way this Harmony chick can compare with your talent. You can't let her get you down. If you give in, she wins." She gave Rachel's hand an encouraging squeeze before letting go. "And we could always enlist Santana in some nefarious plot against her if you want." she suggested as she waggled her eyebrows. "Santana lives for that kind of stuff."

Rachel chuckled at Quinn's suggestion. "Although that would make things very interesting, I think I'll pass for now. But Quinn... Thank you. I really can't tell you how much this friendship has come to mean to me over the past month and a half. It's so nice to know that I don't have to worry about you using me or trying to back stab me. You've been a real breath of fresh-air from my high school hell. Thank you so much." she told the blonde with a sincere smile.

Quinn smiled back bashfully. "I know what you mean. I feel like I can tell you stuff I wouldn't normally tell anyone because I know you have nothing to gain from the information. It's really nice to be able to have a friendship that is so open. Thank you, too. You really are something special."

With a final smile to each other, they settled back into the bed to pick back up on the movie. As it came to an end, Quinn glanced over at Rachel, and saw that the girl was fast asleep. She turned off the tv and the lamp and got comfortable. Rachel had only been at her house for a few hours, but they were already having a wonderful time. Quinn was definitely looking forward to whatever tomorrow would bring.

A/N: Okay, so I know I made y'all wait a while for this one. I'm sorry! But hopefully, the chapter was worth it. I had originally planned to put all of Rachel's visit into one chapter, but this kind of got away from me length-wise and I decided to break it up into segments. Also, I have had a few people ask for a Marley/Kitty pairing. I'm still on the fence about it, so how would you guys feel about that? Thanks for reading and please leave a review and let me know what you think!


	10. Chapter 10

Stuck in a state somewhere between sleep and consciousness, Quinn was vaguely aware of a sporadic rustling in her room. It was extremely soft and only audible every couple of minutes, so she had yet to decide if it was real or apart of a strange dream.

She was finally jostled awake as she felt the other side of her bed dip. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes as she stretched. Slowly, she cracked her eyes open and took in the dim lighting of the room. _It's too damn early to be awake, the sun isn't even up!_

Her eyes came fully into focus and locked onto Rachel staring at her apologetically. "I'm so sorry Quinn, I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Rach?" Quinn breathed out groggily. Her eyes were very heavy and she was struggling to keep them open. "What time is it?"

"It's just passed 6:00," she answered as she reached out to cup Quinn's cheek. "Why don't you go back to sleep, sweetheart." Her thumb began to stroke back and forth across the sleepy blonde's cheekbone and Quinn hummed contentedly as she nuzzled into the contact.

"But, why're you up s'early?" she slurred through her rough morning voice.

"I need to go for a run," Rachel answered as she continued her ministrations.

"No," Quinn whined pathetically. "You needa come back to bed. It's sleepy time... come cuddle." She grasped Rachel's arm and began to pull her toward the middle of the bed.

Rachel, unprepared for the force, was pulled halfway on top of the blonde. Quinn's arms immediately wrapped around her torso and she snuggled in. "Mmm, warm," she sighed out into Rachel's shoulder.

Rachel let out a light giggle. "Quiiinnn, let me go. I need to go run," she told the girl as she struggled to push herself up.

Quinn loosened her grip and forced her eyes back open. She was sporting a very pathetic pout. "But, why?"

"Because I always run in the morning." Rachel told her simply.

Quinn finally let go completely and groaned. "Fine, gimme just a second. I'll go with you." She got in a full body stretch and began to pull herself out of bed and Rachel used the opportunity to stand up and get out of Quinn's reach.

"Quinn, you don't have to go with me. I'll be fine. Go back to bed." Rachel told her gently.

Quinn shook her head and started across the room towards her dresser. She looked over at Rachel after she dug out her favorite sports bra. "No way Rach, it's early and you don't know your way around here. My neighborhood is pretty confusing." she stated as she tugged her shirt off and pulled her bra on. She then started digging in another drawer looking for a tank top to wear. Her mother would die if she went running in just her sports bra. "There's no way I am letting you go out there on your own to get lost or kidnapped or something," she continued as she pulled on a neon green workout tank. "Just give me a sec and I'll be ready to go." She pulled her sleep shorts off and grabbed some black running shorts to change into.

Between her grogginess and rush to change, Quinn completely missed Rachel's shocked face as she basically stripped down in front of the girl. She emerged from her closet after finding her running shoes and looked up to see Rachel staring at her with wide eyes and a deep red blush on her cheeks. The blonde's eyebrows furrowed as she observed Rachel.

"Rach? Are you okay? What's wrong?" She asked the girl.

Rachel's eyes snapped up from Quinn's chest to her eyes and she blushed even more deeply as she redirected her gaze to the ground. "Nothing," she squeaked.

Quinn narrowed her eyes at Rachel's strange behavior. "No, something's definitely wro-" She stopped suddenly as realized she had just stripped down in front of the girl. Her eyes widened comically and she immediately blushed. "Oh my gosh! I am so sorry. I didn't even- I don't- Ugh. I didn't even realize I was doing that. I just like _flashed _you." She groaned and covered her face with her hands. "I was just in a rush and not thinking." she explained through her embarrassment.

Rachel cleared her throat and did her best to regain her composure as she looked back at Quinn. "It's fine. I just... well, I wasn't expecting to see all of _that_, especially first thing in the morning." she said as she gestured to Quinn's body. As she regained her confidence she waggled her eyebrows at Quinn and smirked. "Though, you really need to teach me whatever you Cheerios do for core workouts. Your abdominal muscles are..._mmm_... quite impressive."

Quinn grabbed a pillow and hit Rachel over the head. "Come on perv, let's get this over with."

"Oh, just a second. I hope you don't mind but I really like to listen to my music while I run. It's kind of my me time." she told the blond quietly.

Quinn nodded and made her way across the room to her bedside table. She grabbed her phone and earbuds. "No problem. Let's go."

As they walked down the stairs Quinn strapped her phone to her arm and got it situated comfortably. She looked over to Rachel as they walked out the front door. "So there is a park a couple of blocks from here. How about we run over there and make our way around the jogging trail until you're done?"

The two girls took off jogging at a steady pace and Rachel looked over to Quinn. "Yeah that sounds good. I usually go for about an hour. I'll just catch you when I'm done. Sound good?"

Quinn nodded and they both stuck their earbuds in so they could immerse themselves in their music.

As they made their way onto the jogging trail at the park, Rachel nodded briefly at Quinn and took off ahead of the other girl. Quinn just shook her head. _It's still too early for that crap. I need to wake up a little more before I'm ready to actually run. _

An hour later found Quinn in trance, staring fixedly at the ground about 10 feet in front of her, and pounding out a steady pace. She had lost just about all conscious thought and sense of time. Someone suddenly came into her field of vision. _Doesn't this person realize most people run the other direction? ... Girl's got some nice legs though._ Her gaze began to travel up the person's body to see if she knew them. She was shocked when Rachel stopped in front of her.

"I'm all done. Are you ready to head back?" Rachel asked her, trying to catch her breath.

Quinn nodded dumbly as she pulled her earbuds out.

"Okay, well I'm pretty tired, is it alright with you if we just walk back to your house?"

Quinn continued nodding dumbly. Her mind was somewhere else. She kept taking quick glances at Rachel and, well, Rachel's legs.

_How the hell is it possible for someone so tiny to have legs that long? I mean, seriously, I think I'm like 3 or 4 inches taller than her and I'm pretty sure her legs are longer than mine. _

She snuck another glance over at Rachel.

_And she wants to know my ab workouts? I want to know her leg workouts. Jesus._

She was pulled out of her thoughts by something crossing her field of vision. She quickly looked up, ready to avoid whatever was flying at her. However, instead of immediate danger, she found an laughing Rachel.

"Uh, Quinn, you alright there? I'm pretty sure you haven't heard a word I said since we met back up and we've almost made it all the way back to your house."

A slight blush crept up Quinn's cheeks as she realized she had spent the entire walk back to her house alternately ogling and ruminating over Rachel's legs.

"Sorry, Rach. I just... tend to get kind of caught up in my thoughts while I run. I guess it's just residual overflow of that. What were you saying?"

"Oh, nothing important. I was just asking you were planning for today."

They turned up the sidewalk that led to Quinn's front door and Quinn pulled her keys out.

"It's what, like 7:30 maybe 7:45?" she asked as she unlocked the door. "I say we take a quick shower first. By that time, I would assume my mom will be up and fixing some breakfast. We can eat and then figure out a plan after."

She let Rachel walk into the house first and they both took their shoes off before heading up the stairs towards Quinn's room.

Once they made it to her room, Quinn began gathering some clothes to change into. "You can use my bathroom. I'll just head into the guest bath. You can have my room until after breakfast and I will just head down to the living room when I'm finished with my shower. Do you need anything before I go?"

Rachel thought for a second before shaking her head. "No, I'm pretty sure you set everything out for me already. I'll see you downstairs."

Quinn nodded and headed toward the guest bathroom. She took a quick shower and headed downstairs to see if her mother was up yet. After discovering a completely silent and dark first floor, she decided her mother must be asleep or getting ready for the day.

To occupy her time, she grabbed the remote and laid down on the couch.

No sooner had she found something to watch than her eyes started getting heavy. _I can't believe I'm up before 10:00 on a holiday. How does Rachel live like this? _She continued to fight her drowsiness for a few more minutes before finally succumbing to sleep.

* * *

"Oh my God, how cute! Look at that curly blonde hair!"

"She _hated_ when I dressed her up and put bows in her hair. She would pull her bows out and hide them after wiggling out of her dress. She would then run around like a little hoodlum in just her diaper. I should have known she was going to be an athlete, she was very agile even as a child."

"How funny! Did she run around in her diaper often?"

"Only every day. If she could, she'd manage to get out of her diaper, too. I swear, that girl wasn't happy if she wasn't naked."

Quinn's eyes immediately popped open. She recognized these stories. She sat up quickly and turned toward the voices. Her fears were immediately confirmed. Sitting at the dining room table were her mother and Rachel, flipping through Quinn's baby pictures.

"_Mom_," she whined. "WHY?!" Quinn half glared half pouted at her mother who had begun laughing uproariously along with Rachel.

"I'm sorry, Quinnie, but this is what happens when you leave your guests to their own devices while you sleep." Judy replied without a hint of sympathy on her face and a twinkle in her eye.

Rachel jumped in on the teasing, "Aww, don't pout _Quinnie-bear, _I think you were an adorable baby."

Quinn's eyes got wide as she gasped. "Mom, you told her about _Quinnie-bear_?" she asked scandalized. "That is supposed to be a family secret. No one is supposed to hear that nickname, ever!"

Rachel and Judy started laughing even harder at this. "Oh, Quinn, get over it. It's not that bad. Just a little nickname from when you were a toddler," her mother lightly scolded.

When Quinn was a baby, she had a small bear that was her first stuffed animal. It went absolutely every where with her. She even sat it next to her bath and it got potty-trained right alongside Quinn. The two were inseparable, and so Quinn became Quinnie-bear because you could never find one without the other.

"But people aren't supposed to know about that stuff." Quinn huffed as she dragged herself off the couch and behind the chairs the two women occupied. She rested her hands on the chair backs and leaned over Rachel to see where they were in her baby book.

The current page showed Quinn in her diaper on the kitchen floor covered in flour and shooting the camera a dimpled grin. There was also a shot of her in some footie pajamas playing patty cake and sitting in her father's lap. Right next to it was a picture that was probably taken about ten minutes after the previous one, and she was curled up into her father's chest and sucking her thumb. Quinn smiled fondly. She always loved sitting in her daddy's lap as a child.

Rachel turned to her slightly and ran her hand along the arm that was on her chair. "Don't be too mad. I promise I won't tease you too much," she appealed with a puppy dog look.

Quinn rolled her eyes, "I guess I won't hate you forever. You have to promise me that you won't say any of that stuff in front of Santana though. She would never let me live it down," she finished with a pointed look.

"Scout's honor," Rachel agreed while making the hand signal and nodding enthusiastically.

Quinn hummed. "Somehow, I'm thinking you weren't a girl scout... I'm still holding you to that though."

"Quinn, there are bacon and eggs for you in the refrigerator. Maybe some leftover fruit from Rachel as well. Why don't you go eat, so we can continue this without you complaining and hindering our fun." Judy made a shooing motion towards the kitchen.

"Fine, I can tell where I'm not wanted." Quinn drawled as she made her way into the kitchen. She rummaged through the refrigerator and pulled out some cut up strawberries and cantaloupe along with her bacon and eggs.

She scrunched her nose in slight disgust. Bacon was never as good warmed up... but alas, bacon is bacon, so who is she to complain.

As she ate, she tried to ignore the oohs and awws coming from Rachel in the dining room. Of course, Quinn knew she was a pretty cute baby, what with her curly blonde hair, bright hazel eyes and cheeky grin, but she really didn't like all the attention. It was so embarrassing. Plus baby books always brought up the stories about how silly she had been as a child. And Quinn had done more than her fair share of dumb and embarrassing things as a toddler.

She heard Rachel gasp loudly and Quinn figured Rachel had made it to her huge black eye picture. When she was three, she had unwittingly walked up behind her cousin who was swinging a tennis racket around wildly. He smacked her across the face and promptly knocked her on her rear. The only things she really remembered about it, were lots of pain and lots of red. She was bleeding everywhere, due to the racket cutting a gash right above her left eye. Her mother and father rushed her to the emergency room and she had to have stitches. Quinn ran her fingers over the scar slowly. Luckily, it blended in well with the natural lines around her eyes and was hardly noticeable.

She made her way back through the dining room towards the living room. As she passed through, she looked at Rachel. "When you're quite done, I'll be in the living room. Being bored. And waiting for you to come plan our day with me." She deadpanned.

Rachel stuck out her tongue. "Whatever, just go back to sleep Fabray. I'm having a nice time without you."

"Yeah, yeah. I can really feel the love, Rach." She said as she left the room. She searched the couch she had previously occupied for the remote and got comfortable. Looking through her recorded shows, she realized she had a couple of episodes of _Pretty Little Liars _that she hadn't watched yet and decided that was as good a way as any to keep herself busy until Rachel resurfaced.

Two episodes later Rachel bounced into the living room and plopped onto the couch next to Quinn. Engrossed in the episode, Quinn merely acknowledged her with a quick glance out of the corner of her eye. However, when she saw that Rachel's face was bout 6 inches from her own, she paused the show and turned slightly toward Rachel.

"Umm, Rach. Whatcha doin?" she asked as she lifted an eyebrow.

Rachel remained quiet. Her face a picture of pure concentration. Slowly she lifted her hand up towards Quinn's face. Her eyes narrowed and she shifted slightly closer, looking right into Quinn's eyes. _Holy crap, what's going on?_ Quinn's breath was shallow and quick. She did not like for people to get this up close and personal. It was pushing her to the verge of a panic attack.

Rachel's hand made contact with Quinn's cheekbone and she started to shift her fingers upwards. Quinn sucked in a deep breath and looked back to Rachel's face. It was then that Quinn realized what Rachel was doing.

"There," the small brunette quietly stated as she ran her finger over the small scar. "I can't believe I didn't notice it before."

Quinn chuckled and began to regulate her breathing as her heart rate settled down. "Why would you notice it? It's tiny. Hardly worth mentioning."

Rachel shook her head in disagreement. "No, Quinn. I saw the black eye that came with this cut. It definitely deserves mentioning." She separated herself from Quinn and tried to get comfortable.

After watching her fidget for a few seconds while she tried to curl her legs underneath herself, Quinn finally lifted the edge of her blanket. "Here."

Rachel gave her a skeptical look, probably wondering if Quinn could read her mind.

"Don't give me that look. Just get in here. We both know you want to."

A smile crept over Rachel's face and she crawled under the blanket and leaned into Quinn's side. "What are you watching?"

"_Pretty Little Liars_. Somehow I let myself get a few episodes behind and I'm playing catch up." She answered as she rewound the episode a few minutes to be sure she didn't miss anything.

"What's _Pretty Little Liars_?"

Quinn's head snapped toward Rachel, mouth open, aghast. "You can't be serious, right?" At Rachel's expectant stare she continued. "Oh my God, seriously?...Wow, well at least I figured out what we are doing tonight. Hang on a sec."

Quinn reached over the to coffee table to retrieve her phone. She quickly dialed a familiar number and got comfortable as it rang.

_"Sup, bitch?"_

"Hey, San. Not much. I'm just hanging out in my living room with Rachel. What are you up to today?"

_"Oh yeah, I forgot the hobbit was journeying out of the Shire this weekend. I was actually just about to call you. Britts is over and since it's been unreasonably hot the last few days we were thinking it was perfect weather for some pool time. What do you think?"_

"That actually sounds amazing. Hold on, let me see if that is something Rachel would be interested in."

Quinn covered the microphone and turned to Rachel. "Santana wants to lay out by the pool this afternoon. What do you think?"

Rachel nodded amicably, "Yeah that sounds good. I don't have a suit with me though."

Quinn waved her off. "It's cool. I'm sure Santana will have something that fits you." She put the phone back up to her ear.

"We're in. Rachel is going to need something to wear though. She didn't bring a suit."

_"Who said anything about suits? Short stack can go skinny dipping."_

Quinn heard Brittany talking in the background. "_San be nice. Besides, now we can check out Rachel and see if her body really is as good as you think it is."_

Quinn snorted a laugh. "Yeah San, that's the perfect opportunity for this."

_"Whatever, just get here by 2:30, Q."_

"Okay. Oh and I just found that out that Rachel has never seen _Pretty Little Liars _so I was thinking we could get her started tonight with a marathon. What do you think?"

_"Say no more Fabray. I gots this covered. Be ready for some fun, sun, wine, a little 'A' action, and a hot lesbian swimmer."_

"You got it San, see you soon." Quinn said through a laugh.

* * *

After she got off the phone, the two girls prepared to leave. They decided to grab a quick lunch at Quinn's favorite Thai food place before heading across town to Santana's house.

Quinn pulled into the driveway and led Rachel around to the back of the house. As they neared the gate she called out to her friends. "San, Britt? You guys back here?"

A chorus of "Yeah," sounded back. Quinn opened the gate and walked into Santana's lavish back yard.

The two girls made their way through the white stone outdoor kitchen and patio, down the steps, and along the stone path that led to the pool. Santana, Brittany, and Marley were all laid out on the poolside chaises that Santana claimed as a second home during the warmer months.

Brittany immediately hopped up and moved to give the two newcomers hugs. "Hey Q, Rachel. Glad you could make it." she told them with a large grin on her face.

Marley shot them a quick wave and Santana merely grunted at them. "Move, Q, you're blocking my rays."

Quinn huffed a laugh responded wryly. "Good to see you too, Princess. Anything else I can do for you? Perhaps bring you another drink?"

Santana tipped her sunglasses down with a smirk. "Well aren't you a doll. That'd be lovely thanks. And how about chilled glass as well?" she said saccharinely.

Quinn rolled her eyes and walked over to the cooler to grab another beer for the Latina. She set it down on the table between Santana and Brittany's chairs. "Can I assume there is a suit for Rachel on your bed ready to go?"

"Yeah, yeah. Britts picked it out for her." Santana waved her off dismissively. "Now seriously, move your white ass. I'z be gettin' my tan on."

Quinn and Rachel made their way into the house and up the stairs towards Santana's bedroom. Rachel took the house in with wide eyes as they made their way through the elegantly decorated house. "Wow, and I thought your house was impressive." She breathed out reverently.

Quinn laughed at Rachel's awed face. "Yeah, it's a little overwhelming. San's family is loaded, obviously. Her dad is a doctor and then I think they also have a lot of family money as well."

Rachel picked up the red string bikini that Brittany had laid out for her. Both of their eyebrows rose in surprise, it was definitely more string than bikini.

"Uh, I think they forgot the rest of the suit." Rachel jokingly observed.

"Yeah, well based on the fact that I'm like 99% sure I heard Brittany talking about how they would get to see if you are as hot as they thought you might be, she didn't _forget _anything. I'm sorry. I can dig around her drawers and find something else if you want." Quinn said apologetically.

"No, its fine." Rachel waved her off. "If they want to see my body that is fine with me. I've got nothing to hide. It's just us girls anyway." She began walking toward the bathroom to change. "I'll be right back."

A few minutes later Rachel reemerged from Santana's bathroom wearing the skimpy suit like it was made specifically with her in mind. She dropped her clothes into the bag Quinn brought with her and waited as Quinn shed her extra layers.

Rachel hummed in amusement and lightly teased Quinn. "I feel like I have seen all this somewhere before..."

Quinn's face scrunched up in response to the jab. She balled up her shirt and threw it at Rachel's face. "Hush you, I was half asleep, cut me some slack."

They started back down the stairs and headed towards the pool.

"Oh, please, after speaking to your mother this morning I know all about you exhibitionist tendencies." Rachel said with a smirk as she wriggled her eyebrows.

Quinn ignored her statement, pulled the patio door open, and the two girls rejoined the group outside.

Rachel sauntered up behind Quinn and Santana's jaw dropped. Quinn swore she could see a little bit of drool. "Damn, hobbit, I didn't know you had all of that hidden away." she commented as she shifted her sunglasses down to get a better look.

Rachel winked at the Latina. "Well how could you, you were too busy threatening me in Spanish to notice anything else."

"Wow, Rachie, you're even hotter than San and I thought you would be. And your legs are like super much awesome." Brittany chimed in.

A small smile graced Rachel's face as she turned toward the easy-going blonde. "Thank you, Brittany. I have been told on occasion that they are my best feature. Perhaps I would do well to showcase them more often."

"Yeah, yeah. You're hot, we got it." Santana interrupted. "Anyway, I gots some drinks over there," she gestured toward the cooler behind them. "Water, wine coolers, and beer. I also have tequila, vodka, and rum in the house if that is more your taste. Sodas to mix are in the fridge and I was thinking about making up some margaritas if anyone was interested. But if you are anything like sister Christian and her goodie two shoes nun in training," she looked pointedly at Quinn and Marley, "then you will probably just stick with water or soda."

Rachel's eyes suddenly had a wicked glint in them. "I'm down for a margarita if you don't mind fixing it. I love me some tequila." she finished with a smirk.

"Now this is my kinda woman!" Santana exclaimed as she pushed herself out of her chair. "One pitcher of margaritas coming right up."

As Santana made her way back into the house, Quinn rounded up two more chaises and pulled them toward the group. She adjusted Santana's a little and slightly angled hers and Rachel's so everyone could talk easily.

Rachel made her way over to the empty seats with tanning lotion in tow, Quinn offered her the chaise closer to the group of girls as she wanted to ensure that Rachel didn't feel excluded from the group in any capacity.

Once Rachel finished applying the suntan lotion she offered the bottle over to Quinn who declined. "I think I'm going to go for the sunscreen today. I burn really easily, especially when I haven't been out in the sun in a while."

Rachel nodded and timidly broached a topic she had clearly been thinking about. "So... you don't drink?"

Quinn turned to fully regard Rachel. "No, I don't." she answered simply.

Rachel's brow furrowed slightly, clearly having expected Quinn to elaborate more than that. "Like... at all? Or just in present company." she finished in a whisper and jerked her head towards Marley who was laughing at something with Brittany.

Quinn smiled fondly at the sight. She was really glad that Marley seemed to be fitting in so well with San and Britt, it was clear the girl wasn't used to having people there to look out for her. Her personality was revealing itself more each day as she grew more sure of herself.

She focused back on Rachel who had raised her eyebrows in question. "At all. As in I never have."

Rachel's eyes went wide at the answer. "Really, never? But, you're head cheerleader. Aren't you supposed to go to all the high school parties, get ridiculously drunk and sleep with whatever neanderthal is the flavor of the week at school?"

Quinn looked at her incredulously, slightly hurt at Rachel's words. _She can't really think that about me, right?_

"Seriously, Rachel? Do you honestly think any of that fits me? Did you happen to forget that I am President of the Celibacy Club?"

Rachel shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, I don't know, we haven't ever really talked about this kind of stuff. I didn't mean that in a negative way. There is nothing wrong with drinking. Or sex for that matter. Everyone acts like it's just the boys who want it, but girls want it just as much as guys do, they just won't admit it."

At that moment, Santana walked up, two frozen margaritas in hand. "Hell yeah, midge!" she agreed enthusiastically as she gave Rachel one of the glasses. "Where have you been all my life?" she asked, looking at Rachel in a new light.

As Rachel tested her drink, Santana continued. "But don't waste your time preaching that stuff to, Quinnie, here. After the ice cold reception she has given them, a lot of the guys have decided she is asexual. Personally, I think its just a matter of time. Britts and I have a bet running on when she'll lose her V-card."

Rachel choked on her drink. "_What?!" _she spluttered. "You're still a virgin?" she looked completely baffled. "How?"

Quinn quirked an eyebrow in challenge. "I was raised to believe that you should wait until marriage. Although, I think, if I found the right person, and was comfortable enough, I might be persuaded otherwise."

Rachel shook her head completely bewildered. "Wow, I just can't- I can't even- Just, wow."

All the commotion had drawn the attention of Brittany and Marley.

"Sex is great, Q! You just wait, once you have it, you will probably be as bad as me and Sant-"

"Oookayyy," Santana interrupted quickly. "Rachel, the pitcher is up on the patio in the fridge. I didn't want it to melt too quickly." she said as she made her way back to her seat.

"Well I think that's very noble of you Quinn. I'm waiting for the right person, too." Marley added in.

"Yeah, you best be keeping it that way, too, Mousy. You're way too young to be letting anyone anywhere near your goodies." Santana said with a pointed glare.

Quinn laughed as Marley's cheeks reddened at Santana's crassness. _God, I love my friends. _

A couple of hours later, Brittany, Santana, Rachel had finished two pitchers of margaritas and were well passed the tipsy marker and on their way to drunk.

"San I think we need to get started on that _Pretty Little Liars_ marathon if we want to get make any headway at all tonight."

"Oh shit, Q, thanks for reminding me. Marley, here, hasn't seen it either. Can you believe that?" Santana got up and grabbed onto her chair after she stumbled a little. Once she regained her balance, she loudly proclaimed. "It's time to gets my Emily Fields on!"

Quinn's face wrinkled in distaste. "Ew, Santana, don't you think that is a little incestuous? I'm pretty sure that girl could pass as your sister," she added as they all picked up their stuff.

Santana shrugged, nonplussed. "What can I say. Us Lopez's are hot."

Brittany nodded her head enthusiastically. "And super sexy." she added in what Quinn assumed was supposed to be a whisper.

Suddenly, Quinn was blindsided and knocked back into her chair. Wide-eyed, she looked down to find Rachel giggling as the intoxicated brunette lay on top of her.

"Well, hi there. Did you need something?" Quinn asked as Rachel kept staring at her.

She shook her head. "No, I just wanted you to pay more attention to me." she answered with a goofy grin.

_Hmm, apparently drunk Rachel is blunt Rachel. _

"Well, alrighty, then." Quinn said amused. "You think you can get up now? We are getting left behind."

Rachel shook her head again. "I don't think I can walk inside." She batted her eyelashes sweetly. "Will you carry me Quinnie-bear?" she asked as she traced her fingers along Quinn's breastbone.

Quinn's eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened comically. She became acutely aware of all of the places their bare skin touched. Her skin suddenly felt like it was on fire.

_And very, very touchy._

She cleared her throat awkwardly. "Um, yeah. Just a second."

She shifted herself, so that she could sit Rachel down and moved to allow Rachel to climb onto her back. As soon as the girl was securely in place, she began the trek back to into the house.

She dropped Rachel onto the couch and began digging through her bag to find their clothes. After slipping into her t-shirt and running shorts, she tossed Rachel her clothes.

She chuckled lightly to herself as she watched Rachel struggle to redress, before calling out to Santana. "Hey, how does Chinese sound. I think I'm going to call in an order for Rachel and I. Do you guys want anything?"

* * *

After the finishing their meal, Santana brought out another round of margaritas and they started up season 1.

Santana and Brittany were cuddled up on one couch and Rachel, Quinn, and Marley shared the other. It quickly became clear that Rachel was much too intoxicated to pay any attention to what was happening on the screen. She fidgeted throughout the entire first episode.

When the credits started rolling, Quinn had had enough. "Rachel, stop squirming." She scolded quietly.

Rachel turned to Quinn with a pout. "But Quiinn," she whined. "I'm cold."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Will you be still if I get you a blanket?"

"Maybe," Rachel drawled coyly as she fluttered her eyelashes.

Quinn sighed, exasperated, as she got up and grabbed a blanket from a basket in the corner of the room. She draped the blanket over Rachel and took her seat between the two brunettes.

When she glanced back over at Rachel, she was greeted with big puppy dog eyes. She furrowed her brow in confusion. "What's wrong?"

Rachel continued pouting as she lifted the edge of her blanket and looked pointedly at Quinn. "You're supposed to be under here with me. It's how this works."

"Is that right?" Quinn asked through a smirk.

Rachel nodded seriously. "Now get over here," she said as she pulled at Quinn's arm.

Quinn followed the pull and settled next to Rachel, who pulled her feet up underneath her and rested her head on Quinn's shoulder.

From there, it only took a few minutes for Rachel's hand to find Quinn's. Quinn relaxed into Rachel's body and rested her head atop the brunette's. She was finding that, for someone who was dubbed the "Ice Queen," she quite like how cuddly and affectionate Rachel was.

Rachel began stroking the back of Quinn's hand and Quinn nuzzled lightly into her hair in response. She took a deep breath and sighed. _Yeah, I could definitely get used to this. _

Once they had finished the first two discs of season 1, Quinn slowly extracted herself from a dozing Rachel and made her way over to Santana.

"I think we are going to head out. My mom is expecting us home soon." she whispered.

Santana nodded. "Yeah, okay." she answered quietly. "Call me tomorrow? We'll hang out or something."

"Alright. Will you get the door for me? I going to carry this one to the car." she said as she gestured at Rachel.

Quinn slung her bag over her shoulder and scooped Rachel up bridal style. She glanced at a sleeping Marley.

"I guess she is staying here for the night?"

"Yeah, I'll take care of her. Don't worry."

Santana followed Quinn out to her car and helped her strap Rachel into her seat. "Be safe driving home, Q. I'll see you tomorrow."

Quinn closed the passenger door and looked to the Latina. "You got it, S. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Santana called. Quinn climbed into the car and backed out of the driveway as Santana headed back into the house.

When she got home, Quinn carried Rachel up to her room with the help of her mother. She laid out some pajamas on the bed for Rachel and gently leaned over her sleeping form. She ran her hand through Rachel's hair trying to rouse the girl. "Rach," she called quietly. "Rach, wake up."

Rachel let out a soft moan before blearily opening her eyes. "Quinn?"

Quinn smiled warmly at the girl. "Honey bunch, why don't you get changed really quick and then you can go back to sleep. I'm gonna run to the bathroom for a minute okay?"

Rachel nodded slightly and sat up as Quinn made her way into the bathroom.

When she returned, Rachel was underneath the covers, eyes closed and breathing softly. Quinn made her way across the room to turn out the light. She climbed into bed and shifted around a little before getting comfortable on her back.

As soon as she got still, Rachel rolled over and nestled into Quinn's side, resting her head on the blonde's shoulder and arm over her stomach. "Goodnight, Quinnie-bear." Rachel breathed out softly.

Quinn squeezed Rachel's shoulders briefly. "Goodnight, honey bunch. Sleep well."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It looks like you guys want some Marley/Kitty action, so I will be working on how I want that to play out. I won't introduce Kitty for a couple more chapters, though. Next chapter will be the last of part of Rachel's trip to Lima. Please leave and review and let me know what you think.


	11. Chapter 11

A soft piano intro plays quietly in the room as the two occupants snooze on obliviously. It gradually increases in volume and a female voice sweetly begins to sing.

**Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor.**

**Reaching for the phone cause I can't fight it anymore**.

**And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?**

**For me it happens all the time.**

Quinn stirred lightly and moved further into the warmth emanating from the middle of her bed. A small smile graced her lips as she listened to the very familiar voice harmonizing into the chorus.

**It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now.**

**Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now.**

**And I don't know how I can do without.**

**I just need you now.**

Her brow furrowed and face scrunched up in slight disgust as a male took over the next verse. She knew this voice. And she did _not_ have positive associations with the owner.

**Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door.**

**Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before.**

**And I wonder if I ever cross your mind?**

**For me it happens all the time.**

As the song faded out Quinn's eyes snapped open. _Jesse St. James._ The song began to play again and she slowly lifted her head to look toward the source. On the far bedside table Rachel's phone was lit up and vibrating, announcing an incoming call.

As the female began to sing the opening verse, Quinn quickly realized this was a duet recorded by Carmel High's power couple. Her eyes narrowed as she deduced that Jesse St. Douchebag was calling Rachel and, as a consequence, disturbing her blissfuly quiet slumber.

Quinn attempted to prop herself up on her elbow to reach across Rachel and silence the damn thing, but Rachel was laying on top of her arm and she just couldn't quite reach it.

She glanced down at the sleeping girl and tried to wiggle her arm out slightly. Just as she thought she might be home free, Rachel stirred and let out a pathetic whine.

"Mmm... quit moving so much. Sleep..."

Rachel settled back into her comfortable position and Quinn thought the girl had just about fallen asleep when

**Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor.**

Rachel groaned and turned around to face Quinn. "Oh my god, shut up!" The girl burrowed back into the covers and nestled her face into the gap between Quinn's shoulder and neck.

Quinn grinned at the action and poked Rachel's cheek. "Don't blame me, honey bunch. This is the third time this morning your jerk head boyfriend has called. It's not even 7 o'clock yet."

Rachel cracked open an eye in a glare and huffed. She rolled back over towards her phone grumbling. "Stupid boyfriend. Too loud. Headache." She promptly hit ignore, turned the cell phone off, and threw it across the room toward her overnight bag.

Once Rachel had moved off her arm, Quinn snuggled back into the warmth of her blankets and closed her eyes, intent on milking as much sleep out of a hungover Rachel as she could. The last thing she remembered before she dozed back off, was Rachel snuggling back into her and having her arm draped over the girl's waist.

* * *

A few hours later, Quinn pulled herself back into consciousness as sunlight streamed over her face. She blinked blearily and glanced at the clock as she tried to rid herself of the grogginess of sleep.

_11:30 Wow, I can't believe Rachel actually slept this late. _

She turned around and looked at the brunette still sleeping peacefully. Her hair was tousled and the blankets were covering half of her face, but she looked so serene and happy.

Almost as if she knew she was being watched, Rachel slowly woke, stretching and yawning.

She pried her eyes open and looked at Quinn, confused, and squinting against the bright sunlight. "Morning," she said as she rubbed at her face. "What time is it?"

"11:30"

"WHAT?" Rachel screeched as she she shot up into a sitting position.

Quinn decided this must have not been a very wise decision as Rachel immediately cupped her head and let a miserable moan. Rachel dropped back down to the pillow and curled into herself.

"Oh my God, how much did I drink last night?" she whined while still clutching her head. "I feel like I have the hangover from hell."

Quinn chuckled lightly as she stretched and rolled out of bed. "Well you did go drink for drink with Santana, which, I must add, is quite the feat. An idiotic feat, but a feat just the same. "

"Hey, it served a purpose. I'm pretty sure Santana likes me now... or at least has a grudging respect for me," Rachel argued back as she attempted sitting again. "I'm not sure if it was worth this headache though. Tell me, how is it possible that I slept almost 6 hours later than normal and I still feel like I'm going to die?"

"Don't ask me, I know nothing about alcohol remember?" Quinn responded with a quirked eyebrow. She pointed to the bedside table closest to Rachel. "My mom brought up that bottle of water for you last night and I'm pretty sure she laid out some tylenol for you as well."

Rachel happy downed the two pain pills and the water sitting beside her. As soon as she finished the water, her eyes widened comically. "Wait a second, did you say your mom put this out for me?" she asked in a panicked voice.

Quinn nodded slowly. "Yeah, she said you would need it in the morning. She helped me bring you in the house last night."

Rachel immediately dropped her head into her hands. "I can't believe I was passed out drunk in front of your mother. She probably thinks I'm a delinquent now."

Quinn laughed loudly in disbelief. "Really, Rachel? You do remember that one of my best friends is Santana, right? Believe it or not my mom does understand that kids will be kids. As long as it isn't me that is drunk, she really doesn't care too much."

Rachel looked back up at Quinn skeptically. "Somehow, based on the stories I have heard from you, I don't quite believe that."

Quinn shrugged. "No, really. As long as it isn't me that's drunk and we are being responsible she doesn't care. You were polite and charming, so as far as she is concerned, as long as you aren't like arrested or anything, you are in her good books."

Rachel slowly pulled herself out of bed and nodded her head slowly. "Well, I guess I better be counting my blessings that I made a good first impression then." She made her way over to her bag. "Do you mind if I take a shower first? I'm hoping it will get rid of the rest of this grogginess."

"That's fine, I'm just going to run downstairs and see what my mom is up to. Let me know if you need anything," Quinn said as she headed out of the room.

In the kitchen, she found her mother, bustling about, preparing lunch. As Quinn entered, her mother looked up to greet her.

"Oh, hello dear. I was wondering when you two would get up," she commented cheerily.

Quinn walked over the cabinet to grab a glass and then headed to refrigerator. After scanning the contents for a moment she settled on apple juice and began to pour herself a glass.

"Yeah, well, you know this is how late I usually sleep and I guess Rachel was trying to sleep off her rebelliousness," she answered before taking a long drink.

Judy hummed in agreement as she chopped up some tomatoes for their salad. "Well I should think so. She is quite small, wouldn't take much to knock her off her feet."

Quinn laughed. "No kidding. She was mortified this morning, worried about what you must think about her now. She said you probably thought she was some kind of delinquent."

Judy glanced up from her work. "Well I must say, I was surprised to see her in that that state, however, I am not her parent, so I don't really have a right to say anything about that. You do know that I don't approve of that sort of behavior thought, correct?" Judy asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, mom I know. And I think she was just trying to get on Santana's good side. I don't think she really drinks that much," Quinn assured.

"I am sure she doesn't. She seems like a very responsible girl," she replied as she finished chopping up the tomatoes. When she finished she picked up the cutting board and added them to the salad bowl.

She laid her knife and cutting board on the countertop slowly and took a deep breath before speaking. "Although, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. Where is Rachel right now?"

Quinn's brow furrowed in confusion as to what her mom wanted to speak with her about. "She is in the shower. Said something about wanting to get rid of the grogginess. Why, what's up?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well, it just that... Oh dear, I don't really know how to say this tactfully..." Judy sighed in exasperation. "I'll just be out with it. Yesterday, while we were looking at your baby pictures, Rachel had quite a few stories about her own childhood... A childhood that included two gay fathers..." She trailed off and gave Quinn a hard look. "Were you planning on telling me that any time soon?"

Quinn shuffled awkwardly and looked away from her mother. She had definitely not planned on having this conversation so soon. She was not prepared to explain to her _very_ conservative mother that one of her best friends was living in a homosexual household.

_This is not going to go well. Why didn't I just ask Rachel to keep quiet about that for a little while so I could tell my mom later?_

"Well," Quinn hedged awkwardly. "I was planning on telling you eventually. I just didn't know how to approach the subject. I didn't even think about Rachel mentioning it to you."

Her hands began to fidget as nerves took over. For some reason she _really_ wanted her mother to approve of Rachel and this was sure to be a major point of contention.

Judy eyed her skeptically. "Well, I think I handled it alright. It would have been nice to have a heads up though. Honestly, dear, that is kind of a big bomb to have dropped on you without warning." she scolded.

Quinn's head dropped in shame. "I know. I'm sorry, mom. I was just worried about what you and dad would think and I really want you guys to like Rachel. She is a really great friend to me."

Judy reached over and grabbed Quinn's fidgety hands. "Quinn, sweetheart. Look at me." She ducked her head to make eye contact with her daughter. "I can understand why you would worry, but you need to understand that I am not your father. I am in no position to judge how other people live their lives. As long as it is not affecting me, I don't care, okay?" she asked tenderly. "I can tell that this friend means a lot to you and that she is a wonderful person. So how about we make a deal, huh?"

Surprise overtook Quinn's face at that. She knew her mother was slightly more lax about certain things, but she certainly never thought her mother would be nonchalant about this. Maybe there was more to her mother than she originally thought.

"Okay," she answered hesitantly. "What kind of deal?"

"Let's not speak about this again, you keep bringing Rachel around, and we don't ever mention to your father that she was raised in a homosexual household. I will leave it to you to make sure Rachel doesn't mention it to your father. Deal?"

Quinn quickly agreed. This conversation was turning out better than she had ever hoped. "I can definitely do that... So...um... do you need any help with lunch?" she offered in an attempt to change the subject.

Judy checked the oven timer before looking back at Quinn. "Why don't you go set the table for me. The ziti should be ready to come out of the oven in about 10 minutes."

As Quinn headed out towards the dining room she paused and looked back over her shoulder. "Hey, mom?"

Judy looked up at her daughter. "Yes, sweetie?"

Quinn gave her mother a soft smile. "Thanks," she said sincerely before walking out of the room.

* * *

After lunch, her mother had excused herself for the day as she had a meeting for some benefit at the country club. Quinn didn't pay that much mind, as she assumed all things pertaining to the country club were just an excuse for mindless gossip.

Santana called early in the afternoon and told Quinn that she and Brittany were going to the park near Quinn's house to feed the ducks, and Brittany wanted Quinn, Rachel, and Marley to join. And since 'what Britts wants, Britts gets' an hour later found Quinn and Rachel walking up to the pond where Marley, Santana, and Brittany were sitting with a loaf of bread.

Brittany was the first to notice them as they approached and a huge smile immediately lit up her face as she waved at them both.

"Rachel, you have to come over to the water with me and San to feed the ducks! I want to show you which ones are my favorites." she told her happily.

Rachel gave Brittany her 1000 watt smile. "Sure Brittany, I would love to accompany you."

Brittany pulled Santana up off the ground and turned to Rachel with a very grave expression on her face. "You have to promise you won't tell them that I have favorites though, okay? Sanny once told one that I didn't love him as much as his brother and he tried to drown himself. I don't think I could handle another accident like that," she whisper shouted.

Rachel nodded very seriously. "Absolutely. We will be very discreet," she claimed as they walked off toward the edge of the water.

After they left, Quinn took a seat by Marley on the blanket that Santana had provided. "Hey, kiddo, how's it going?" she asked the girl as she lightly bumped their shoulders.

Marley narrowed her eyes at Quinn. "I am _so_ not a 'kiddo.' I'm almost 15."

Quinn put her hands up in surrender with a small smirk on her face. "Easy tiger, I'm just teasing. You're getting all defensive like Rachel does when I call her short," she claimed as she waggled her eyebrows.

Marley studied Quinn for a moment to evaluate the truth of her words and then looked back over to where Santana, Brittany, and Rachel were tossing bread out to the ducks. Brittany was currently trying to talk Rachel into wading a few feet into the water, but Rachel looked dubious.

Quinn and Marley chuckled at Rachel's expression and Quinn yelled out to her, "A little water isn't going to kill you, Rachel!"

Rachel's head snapped over towards the two sitting girls. "Quinn! It's all mossy!" she whined petulantly as she crossed her arms and made a face of disgust.

Quinn shook her head and snorted at Rachel's antics. "That girl. I swear I have never met anyone like her," she told Marley.

"She is pretty unique, huh? I really had no idea what I was getting into competing against her. I honestly didn't stand a chance." Marley replied with as sigh as she shook her head sadly.

"None of us did. But we made a hell of a lot better attempt than we have ever been able to before." Quinn told her honestly. She reached over and rested her hand on Marley's shoulder. "You aren't blaming yourself are you?"

Marley quickly glanced up at Quinn from the corner of her eyes with a defeated expression on her face. "How could I not? I mean I was supposed to be the secret weapon, or whatever, and I didn't get us to Nationals."

Quinn felt horrible. She had named Marley their secret weapon and really played it up to get everyone excited and motivated about Regionals. Realistically, she knew that a couple of weeks of practice and some new talent would not be enough to dethrone Rachel and the rest of Vocal Adrenaline, but she needed them to feel like they could. New Directions had needed a push and some hope, so she had given it to them, but she didn't think Marley would take it all to heart like she did.

"Hey, none of this was your fault. You were in the club for like 3 weeks before the competition and we didn't even have our set list ready before you joined. We didn't have enough prep time to beat VA. I knew that. I was just trying to get everyone motivated and excited for the competition. I'm sorry that I put so much pressure on you. I honestly did not mean to." Quinn told her seriously as she looked directly into the girl's eyes.

"I still feel like I disappointed everyone though. Nationals in New York would have been amazing." Marley said sadly.

"Yeah, it would have been. But if everyone in that club wanted New York so badly, they should have gotten serious about competition a lot sooner. Heck, I mean, Vocal Adrenaline has their set list for Nationals picked out and choreographed at the beginning of the year. They take it way more seriously than we do. As it is, we didn't do our part in preparation and so we can only learn from out mistakes and get a whole lot better for next year, okay?"

Quinn smiled at Marley, hoping what she said was enough to cheer the girl up. She really did have so much talent, and with enough hard work, it really was possible that she could take New Directions to Nationals someday.

Marley gave a weak smile. "Yeah, we will just work harder to prepare for next year."

Quinn winked a Marley. "Don't be so hard on yourself... _kiddo,"_ she teased with a smirk.

This finally got Marley to laugh. She rolled her eyes as she reached out and pushed Quinn over. "Jerk."

Their laughter was interrupted as Rachel started shouting from several yards away. She was pacing around while talking on her cell phone and making wild gestures. It was clear she was very frustrated. Quinn and Marley could just barely make out what she was saying.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure you _need _me. Because that is the only thing I am good for apparently. I told you I was going to be gone until our practice tomorrow morning. Can you seriously not go without for a week?"

Quinn raised her eyebrows. She had never seen the girl quite like this. Her attention was pulled away from the angry diva as Santana and Brittany rejoined them on the blanket.

"What happened with her?" Quinn asked the girls.

Santana shrugged. "Hell if I know. Danny Zuko called her and she just blew up."

They all looked back over to Rachel, who was getting louder. "I cannot believe you would even ask me to do that! What the hell is wrong with you? I am spending the rest of today and tonight here, in Lima. Get over it. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rachel hung up on the boy and let out a frustrated scream before stomping over to the rest of the girls. She dropped into the space to Quinn's right and immediately leaned into the girl, placing her head on Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn quickly put her arm around the upset girl and gave her a small hug. "Are you okay? What was all that about?" she asked.

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Just... aggravated. Jesse called me and was asking me to come home right now because he 'needed me.' He is so selfish."

Quinn and Marley's faces both contorted in confusion. "Isn't it a good thing to have your boyfriend miss you?" Quinn asked her.

Rachel and Santana both huffed a laugh. "I don't think that is what he meant by that, Q." Santana told her.

Rachel shook her head. "No, he was being a horny bastard and complaining that we haven't slept together in over a week," she stated in exasperation.

Quinn cringed in disgust. "Okay, _EW_. Is that why he was blowing up your phone this morning?"

"Apparently. I guess there is no motivator quite like that of a high school male's sex drive."

Quinn's stomach rolled. She did _not _need to hear about Rachel's sex life with that asshole.

"Okay, we needs to change the subject or I'm gonna lose my lunch." Santana said as she wrinkled her nose. She turned to Marley. "But let this be a lesson to you, Mousy. Stay away from guys. They just want in your pants," she told her with a hard look. "I'm serious."

Marley just put her hands up in surrender. "Trust me, I have no prospects. So don't worry."

The group continued hanging out and talking at the park for a couple of more hours, but the mood was not quite the same. Rachel was still noticeably upset and nothing Quinn did seemed to be cheering her up. When dinner time came around, Quinn decided it was best if they just went back to her house for the night. She didn't want to put a damper on everyone else's evening.

After a quick supper, filled with awkward silence, Quinn couldn't take it anymore. "Rachel, honey, I hate having to see you like this. What can I do to make it better?"

Rachel took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I'm ruining your night." She paused. "I'm just really upset with him. That was so disrespectful and shallow. I am beginning to wonder why I even put up with him."

Quinn pulled Rachel into a tight hug. "You should have to 'put up with him' like it's a chore. You should enjoy your relationship. And you are not ruining my night. I just want you to be happy be happy again. Is there anything I can do?" she asked as she rubbed Rachel's back with her hands.

Rachel pulled back from the hug a little. "Can I sing? I just... I need to get my emotions out. Plus, I need to run my scales and get some practice in before tomorrow. Shelby will not be happy if I have lost some ground because of the break."

"Sure, how about we go down in the basement. That way we don't disturb the neighbors too much. Do you mind if I watch?"

"I think I just need to be alone for a while. Kind of sort myself out. I hope you don't mind.." Rachel told her hesitantly.

"No, that's fine. Of course you can have some alone time. I'll just be up here watching TV or something," she said as she gestured toward the living room. "Let me know when you are finished okay?"

Rachel nodded her assent and headed toward the basement.

After she disappeared, Quinn made her way into the living room. Her mother was still not home, so she had free reign of the TV. However, after flipping restlessly through the channels and finding nothing interesting on, she decided to take a shower and relax a little.

In the shower, Quinn found herself picking apart Jesse St. James. The guy was a total tool. She could not believe that he would try to take Rachel away from a vacation just because he wanted to have sex with her. Rachel deserved so much better than a guy like that.

Even worse, it had made Rachel so upset that it had ruined her afternoon. It was like torture seeing someone as bubbly as Rachel be so dismayed. Quinn felt like her heart was breaking every time she saw the sadness in those expressive eyes.

Once she was finished showering, she took her time drying her hair and going through her nighttime routine. She wasn't sure how long Rachel would want to sing, but she figured at least and hour, probably more.

When Rachel finally resurfaced, Quinn was working on assignment for one of her classes and she had a _Friends_ marathon on in the background.

Quinn glanced up when she heard Rachel enter her room. After putting her notebook and pencil down she gave Rachel a soft smile. "Hey, are you feeling any better?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, a lot better actually. I just really needed to blow off some steam. I don't think I have ever been so upset with someone.

"But, you're good now right?" Quinn asked, concern lacing her voice.

"Yeah, I am. I promise. Thank you for checking, though," she replied as she crawled onto the bed next to Quinn.

Quinn moved her assignment to the bed side table and opened up her arms for a hug. Rachel almost jumped into Quinn's arms in her haste for comfort. She squeezed Quinn tightly and buried her face into Quinn's neck as Quinn softly rubbed her back.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Rachel shook her head and Quinn heard a muted, "No, not right now."

"Okay, well if you do, I'm here for you, alright?"

Rachel looked up at Quinn. "Thank you so much. You.. You really have no idea how much that means to me. I know this may sound kind of lame, but.." she took a deep breath. "Well, you're pretty much my best friend, and you really mean a lot to me," she finished as her cheeks tinged pink.

Quinn gave Rachel a gentle squeeze. "I think you're my best friend, too, Rach. We may not have been close for very long, but you know things about me that not even Santana knows. And we have been friends for most of our lives."

Rachel pulled back from the hug with a large grin. "Right, well, I would rather not waste any more of today on being distraught over Jesse. I think I'm going to go take a quick shower and get ready for bed. When I come back, we can watch a little bit of _Friends_ before going to sleep, yeah?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. I think I'll just keep working on this until you get back," Quinn told the girl, as she reached for her abandoned assignment.

After her shower, the two girls snuggled into Quinn's bed to watch TV. When a couple of episodes had passed, Quinn glanced over at Rachel to see that the girl was laying on her side, facing Quinn, sleeping peacefully.

Quinn grabbed her remote and turned the TV off before trying to get comfortable. She finally settled down facing Rachel, but, even though she was comfortable, her mind was racing. It was incredible to her that she had become so close to Rachel in such a short span of time. She was definitely not someone who trusted easily, so she was perplexed by the undeniable pull she felt towards the girl. It was like her soul was telling her she could trust the singer. That no matter what, Rachel was safe. Rachel would not betray her. And it was absolutely true, Rachel really was her best friend.

As she thought this, Rachel began to shift on her side of the bed. She moved closer to Quinn, so there was less than a foot separating them, and reached out to put her hand on Quinn's arm.

Quinn furrowed her brow. She was pretty sure that Rachel had been asleep when she turned the TV off earlier.

She was finally settling down to sleep, when Rachel shifted a few inches closer. She felt the girl's thumb start to stroke slowly back and forth across her bicep. _Okay... so she's not asleep then? _Quinn's eyes popped open and she looked hard at Rachel, trying to see through the dark if the girl's eyes were open. _Well her eyes are closed... but you don't exactly just _stroke_ somebody's arm while you're sleeping, right?_

This continued for a few minutes, and try as she might, Quinn could not get to sleep. She was thoroughly perplexed at Rachel's actions, and her body was totally focused on the small soft movement of Rachel's thumb across her skin.

Slowly, Rachel's hand began to move gently up and down the length of Quinn's upper arm. _Okay, so definitely not asleep, then. _Quinn was completely enraptured with the feelings coursing through her at Rachel's touch. Her heart was racing and there was a stirring deep inside of her, begging her for more contact. _What is going on? I feel like my heart is about to beat out of my chest. I wonder if she has any idea what she is doing to me right now. _

All Quinn could do was focus on Rachel's hand and the way it was making tingles fly up her arm. _Oh my God, that feels so good... Wait, no. This shouldn't feel like this. I shouldn't be reacting to her like this. It doesn't make any sense. _But try as she might, she could not hold in the contented sigh that escaped her lips as she lost herself in the sensation.

Before she could register that she was moving, her hand was resting atop Rachel's hip and her thumb was stroking lightly just above the smaller girl's hipbone. She heard Rachel inhale sharply and felt the girl's hand stutter slightly in it's movements.

As soon as Quinn realized what she had done, fear began to take over her body. She had no idea why she seemed to be so drawn to Rachel all the time. It was like they were magnets, always touching in some way when they were close. But her body's reaction was really starting to freak her out a little bit. It was like she had no control.

She stopped the movement of her thumb, but left her hand where it was and took a deep breath. _It's going to be okay. You're fine. This is just... comfort. Yeah, that's what this is. Rachel has been upset today and she needs contact to know that I'm here for her. _

Quinn made an effort to slow her breathing and tried to just revel in the feeling of Rachel's soft caress on her arm. Her body gradually relaxed and just as she felt Rachel's hand slow in its movement, she drifted off into peaceful sleep.

* * *

Quinn awoke to Rachel gently shaking her the following morning. "Rach? Is everything okay?" she asked, her voice rough with sleep.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I'm about to leave though. I need to get back for practice in a couple of hours. I just wanted to tell you goodbye."

Quinn sat up and rubbed her eyes. "You're leaving already? What time is it?"

Rachel looked over to the clock. "It's almost seven. Practice starts at nine and I need to stop by my house before I go."

Slowly, Quinn pulled herself out of bed and stretched as she slipped on her house shoes. "Okay, I'll walk you out."

She grabbed Rachel's bag and the two girls made their way to the Rachel's car. After putting her stuff away, Rachel turned back to Quinn. "I had a really great time. Thank you so much for inviting me."

Quinn smiled gently at Rachel. "Anytime. I had fun, too."

Rachel nodded. "Right, so... don't forget to tell your mother I said thank you for having me."

"Of course. It will be the first thing I say to her when she gets up for church." She told the brunette.

"Okay, well I guess I should get going." Rachel said as she awkwardly started towards her car.

"Rachel," Quinn said as she grabbed Rachel's arm before the girl could open the driver's door.

When Rachel looked back to her, Quinn opened her arms for a hug, which Rachel immediately accepted. "I'll miss you." Rachel whispered into her ear as she clung tightly to Quinn.

"I'll miss you, too. But remember, I'm only a phone call away," Quinn whispered back. After a few more seconds, she pulled away. "Drive safely and be sure to text me when you make it back."

Rachel nodded got into the car. "See you soon?"

"Yeah, see you soon." Quinn shut Rachel's door for her and watched as her best friend drove away.


	12. Chapter 12

The last two weeks had been hell for Quinn. As soon as Spring Break was over, Coach Sylvester had called the Unholy Trinity into her office to discuss the upcoming Cheerios tryouts. They were to have a week and half of training sessions, teaching the potential Cheerios cheers and routines, assisting them with their technique, and getting a feel for each individual as a whole. In order to accommodate the incoming Freshman, they were going to have these sessions for two hours after school instead of during the usual athletic block during the day.

These two hours a day did not include the hour planning meeting prior to every practice session, nor the hour long recap meeting where they discussed the strengths and weaknesses of each potential recruit. Sylvester was extremely thorough and to be on her squad you had to not only have the skill, but also the drive and determination.

Quinn's days were jam-packed, from the time she woke up in the morning until her head hit the pillow at night. She was reeling, completely exhausted, and just dying for a break. She had so little time during her day that her school work was beginning to suffer. She could only hope that her parents wouldn't notice. Only one more day and she would have her afternoons back. Surely she could hang on that long.

Of course all of this stress wasn't even broaching the mild panic ongoing in that back of her mind. Any moment, not already devoted to a task, was spent in scrutiny over her and Rachel's interactions the previous weekend.

All of the Sunday after Rachel left, Quinn analyzed everything that happened between her and her best friend. She had finally convinced herself that it wasn't anything special, that all best friends were close like that. All best friends had to be in physical contact somehow, whether holding hands or just touching legs or feet. That was totally normal... just like Santana and Britt- _oh wait... bad example.. _

She kept telling herself it was completely normal. That is, until Santana rather suggestively mentioned something about how incredibly touchy she and Rachel were and teased her about 'getting it on with the midget.' That immediately sent Quinn reeling all over again.

Every spare second she had was spent thinking about that last night Rachel had stayed over. Thinking about how Rachel's fingertips felt grazing along the soft skin of her arm. Sometimes all the way up to her shoulder. How it sent tingles flying up her arm and deep into the pit of her stomach. How butterflies had erupted and her heart beat erratically. Her breathing had quickened and she had that pull for _more._

It had almost been animalistic. It was uncontrollable and instinctual. And if she didn't know any better she might think it was desire or, dare she even think it, _lust._

But, no, it could not be that. She had dated Finn for a year and never felt something similar to that, so there was no way it could be lust. Plus she was completely straight, so there was no way it could be _that._ Right?

It was these terrifying thoughts that made Quinn extremely thankful she had such a busy two weeks. The more she had to keep her occupied and away from these thoughts the better.

Despite the waging war in her mind over her best friend and her loaded schedule, Quinn still made as much time as possible to communicate with Rachel. In fact, she couldn't seem to get enough of the girl. They were constantly texting throughout the day, which was not a common practice for either of them, and late at night, Quinn always made a quick phone call to Rachel to exchange stories about their day and say goodnight.

Rachel was miracle worker at decreasing Quinn's stress, and she was quickly coming to depend on the phone call to help calm her brain enough to actually fall asleep.

Quinn took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. Tryouts were beginning in fifteen minutes and it was time to get her head cheerleader bitch face on. Just a couple more hours and then she was free for the weekend. Time to catch up on her homework and sleep. Definitely sleep. A lot.

In their recap meeting yesterday, the Unholy Trinity and Sue had narrowed down the list of girls allowed to come back for a final tryout. There were three spots opening up and ten girls had made it to the very end based on their talent and attitude throughout the past two weeks. Each girl was to execute three cheers, a dance routine, and a tumbling run (Sue was insistent that her girls be proficient in all areas). Quinn was just hoping to be finished within two hours.

With a final check in the mirror, she went stone faced, pulled her shoulders back, and tipped her chin up. These girls needed to be intimidated by her. She was not their friend, she was their future captain.

She strutted down the hallway and into gym where tryouts were to be held. A long table sat at half-court on the sideline. Santana and Brittany were already sitting on either end, and the middle two seats were reserved for her and Coach Sylvester. She nodded a greeting at the two seated girls and sat down with an pretentious look on her face. A quick glance at the girls seated in front of them assured her they were shaking with nerves. She would have laughed at their fear struck faces had she not been playing her intimidation card.

There was a loud bang as Coach Sylvester threw the side door open to announce her arrival. She stalked over to the group and glared down at them. "Okay you mouth breathing worthless wastes of space, let's see if you can make something of yourselves. Draw a number out of the jar, and that is order in which you will tryout. You will wait outside in the hallway until I call for your number. Once the tryouts are over you will wait in here while I have a small deliberation with tweedle-dumb, tweedle-fake boobs, and frosty over there," she said as she gestured toward Brittany, Santana, and Quinn. "We will come back with the list of our newest members."

She dismissed all of the girls and walked over to the table to sit down. After adjusting her notepad and getting comfortable she called in the first girl.

As the tryouts progressed, Quinn was getting more and more annoyed. There was a reason that Coach Sylvester insisted on having an individual tryout before deciding who made the squad. They needed to see how the girls responded to pressure and stress. So far, five girls in, only one had stepped up to the challenge. Most of the girls were wrought with nerves, and it showed. Their voices were wavering, they were missing steps, and not landing their flips. This was not looking very promising.

Adding to her annoyance was the fact that she could feel her phone buzzing. She was pretty sure she had already gotten two text messages since the tryout began, and if she were a betting woman, she would say they were from Rachel. She _really _wanted to be done with this crap and talk to her best friend. It had been a long week.

Finally, the last girl walked, no scratch that, _sashayed _into the gym for her tryout. Her face was a picture of cool confidence and she matched the hard looks of her superiors. Quinn's eyebrow quirked as she watched the girl work through her routines. She glanced over to her fellow judges to see that they were also very impressed.

Sylvester had been talking a lot about this girl. She had been out-performing everyone all week without breaking a sweat. Currently, she was not disappointing her audience as she performed flawlessly with ease. Every move was precise and perfect. She was a head and shoulders above all of the other candidates. In fact, she was almost as good as the members of the Unholy Trinity. _Almost._

At the end of the girl's tryout, Quinn glanced at Sylvester to see her reaction. To her surprise, Sylvester was sporting the smallest of smiles. _Well this girl certainly made it. I didn't even know Sylvester _could_ smile._

Coach Sylvester swept her most trusted Cheerios into her office to decide the fates of the ten waiting girls. After talking for about five minutes (It wasn't a difficult decision, seeing as 6 of the girls had choked), everyone reconvened in the gym for the big announcement.

Quinn watched as dreams came to life and died on the spot when Sylvester called out the three names of her newest Cheerios. She drowned out most of Sylvester's speech as her phone began to buzz signaling a call. Her brow furrowed in confusion. _Who could be calling me right now? I thought everyone knew I had Cheerios business tonight. _She tried to focus back in as Sylvester finished up.

"Congratulations to those of you who just jumped up to the highest rung on the social ladder. And to the rest of you, well, if you don't get slushied too much in the upcoming year, you can try again." Sylvester told them coldly before turning her back to them as a dismissal.

Quinn was about to grab her athletic bag and escape to her car when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Sylvester looking at her. "Wait just a minute Q, I want you to officially meet someone. I have big plans for you two."

The cheer coach turned her head toward the stands where the other girls were packing up their belongings. "Kitty!" She yelled. "Get over here!"

The blonde headed girl that nailed her tryout quickly made her way over to them. "Yes, Coach Sylvester?"

"I wanted to introduce you to your captain. Quinn Fabray, this is Kitty Wilde."

Quinn nodded at the girl while maintaining a neutral mask. She needed to get a good read on her before she made a decision about how to treat her.

Kitty smiled almost manically before speaking. "It is so wonderful to finally meet you. I mean, you're Quinn Fabray. I idolize you," she gushed.

Quinn quirked her eyebrow at that. _Creepy much?_

Sylvester continued talking. "Kitty, I must say, I was very impressed with your tryout. I haven't seen any one look that good since the Ice Queen, here, tried out. In fact, when I first saw you, I thought my attempts at cloning Q had been successful. If you can keep this up, you just might be my next captain." She turned to Quinn. "Q, I expect you to take Kitty under your wing. I want you to personally groom her to take over after you leave." She began to walk away from them. "Get comfortable girls. You're gonna be spending lots of time together." With that, she turned and stalked back towards her office, leaving the two girls to talk.

"Oh my God, if I hadn't made it on the squad I would have thrown such a hissy. I tried out last year, and totally bombed because I was nervous, but I know I was made for this. Plus, I prayed really hard before tryouts, so I totally knew I would make it." Kitty said as she nodded, hardly taking a breath.

Quinn cleared her throat. "Right, and how old are you exactly?"

"I'm 15, I'm a freshman. I guess I just wasn't cut out to be a Cheerio that young, but I knew if I worked really hard I would make it this year. I aspire to be you, so everyday I would look in the mirror and ask, 'What would Quinn Fabray do?' I wouldn't have gotten this far with out you. You inspire me." She said very seriously.

Quinn looked skeptically at her, this girl couldn't be serious. She was a little concerned about her privacy at this point. "Right. You look kind of familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" As she asked the question she felt another call come through on her phone. _Someone must really need to get a hold of me. _

Kitty nodded. "Oh yeah, we're members of the same church as your family. We sit about 5 pews behind you and my father has been encouraging me to join the Celibacy Club every since he found out you were the president. He knows just as well as I do the kind of influence the Fabrays carry."

"Okayy," Quinn drawled as yet another text message came through her phone. "We will get together on Monday and I'll start showing you the ropes. I really need to get going though, so I'll see you later. It was nice meeting you."

"You too," Kitty said brightly. "Have a good weekend."

"Thanks," Quinn called out over her shoulder and she made her way to her bag. She dug her keys out and started down to hallway toward the parking lot.

As she walked, she fished her phone out to see who had been trying so hard to get in touch with her. She saw that she had 3 texts and 2 missed calls from Rachel. _Weird, she knew I would be in tryouts today. Why would she call me right now?_

She decided to read the text messages before she got to her car and then call Rachel back on her way home.

**Are you done with tryouts yet? -Rachel**

**Best Friend? Can you please call me? It's important. -Rachel**

**Please Quinn. I need to talk to you. -Rachel**

After she read the last message Quinn was silently freaking out. She had never known Rachel to act like this. Sure, the girl was a diva, but this did not sound like her normal, demandingly playful tone. This was something completely different. Something big must be going on to have Rachel begging for her, and Quinn was afraid of what might be going on.

She dropped her bag into the back seat of her car before getting in and starting it up. She found Rachel in her favorites list and called the girl back.

Rachel picked up after the first ring and Quinn was greeted with a heart-wrenching sob. "_Qui-inn,_" she shuddered out through her tears. "_I-I-I need you..."_

__A/N: Hello everyone! I want to thank you for your wonderful reviews and your favorites/follows. It's so encouraging to hear from you. I apologize for the short chapter, but it was necessary for me to end this here. Everyone loves a good cliff-hanger, right? :) I have a special treat next chapter, as we go into Rachel's POV to find out what is going on. Any guesses? I hope you enjoyed this. Please let me know what you think.


	13. Chapter 13

It was a bright sunny day as Rachel made her way across the quad during her lunch period. Spring had arrived in Dayton; the trees were blooming, the grass was green again, and the quad was filled with beautiful flowers. For this reason, Rachel had decided to eat quietly on her own and bask in the rays of sun she had missed so much.

She arrived at a small picnic table off on its own and meticulously set out her lunch. Rachel liked to have things very organized, so each container had its own place whilst she was eating. After she popped off the lids and began eating, her mind began to wander.

The past two weeks had been a combination of marvelous and exhausting. Shelby had been running them ragged to make up for the practice time missed over Spring Break. The competition was in about a month and Shelby didn't believe there was such as thing as being overly prepared. Rachel was inclined to agree. The rest of Vocal Adrenaline, however, were a different story. Rachel heard grumblings of several team members complaining of overwork when the competition was still so far away. She, of course, thought this was absurd. Shelby obviously knew what she was doing, as she had won Nationals two consecutive years.

When Rachel wasn't busy with Vocal Adrenaline business, she was frequently seen attached to her phone. In fact, her fathers had begun making jokes that she would need to go to a surgeon and have it removed. Rachel paid them no mind though, because _this_ was her link to Quinn.

Their relationship had definitely changed since her weekend trip to Lima, though Rachel couldn't pinpoint exactly how or why_. _They definitely talked a lot more, whether through text or even phone calls. They constantly texted each other throughout the day and always made it a point to make a phone call right as they were going to bed for a small chat and to say their goodnights.

If Rachel was completely honest with herself, these nightly phone calls were quickly becoming the favorite part of her day. She eagerly awaited seeing Quinn's name flash on her caller ID. It seemed as though she could never get enough of the statuesque blonde with whom she had begun an unlikely friendship. She craved attention from this girl who so many considered unreachable, but who, for some strange reason, trusted Rachel almost implicitly.

As she began to eat the strawberries she had packed for her dessert, she thought back to that final night at Quinn's house. It had been such an awful day, full of doubt and self loathing for allowing herself to reach a point where Jesse felt he could make such a ludicrous request. As they lay in Quinn's bed watching TV, she had closed her eyes in an attempt to slip into sleep and escape from the horrible thoughts that had been plaguing her all day. As she lay there, unsuccessful, she heard Quinn shut off the TV and settle in for the night. After a few minutes, she had moved over towards Quinn and reached out to the girl. She couldn't explain why, but for some reason she just needed to touch the other girl, to know that she was there. As she had been lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice that her hands were moving of their own volition, gaining comfort from the feel of Quinn's soft skin. When she noticed that Quinn wasn't really reacting and most likely asleep, she had allowed herself to indulge a little more in this comfort. As her hand had made its way down the sensitive skin on top of Quinn's bicep, she heard the girl sigh in content. The next thing she knew, there was an explosion of heat and tingling originating from her hip as Quinn had begun softly caressing the area. She was pretty sure she had let out a gasp at the incredible sensation that quickly took over her body. Not long after, she had fallen into one of the most peaceful sleeps she had experienced in a long time.

Rachel blushed as she remembered her actions and feelings from that night. She couldn't explain why she was always touching Quinn. Most of the time she didn't even realize she was doing it, it was just natural. One thing was for sure though, she recognized the sensations Quinn's touch had caused. It was the same feeling she had when Jesse had started dating her. It was that rush one got when the object of their affection granted extra attention in some way.

This had completely baffled Rachel though. It's not that she was against homosexuality, _obviously, _or that she identified herself as completely straight, because if anything she saw sexuality as fluid. It was that Quinn was her friend. Her _best_ friend at that. Really the first friend she had deemed important enough to have that title bestowed upon them, and she didn't know how people normally felt about their friends. Maybe it was just excitement about having a new friend and feeling so free around them. Maybe this was completely normal and she was overanalyzing everything.

Rachel packed her stuff up and checked her phone, hoping for a text from the blonde. Her face scrunched up in disappointment as she saw that Jesse had texted her and not Quinn. She had borrowed a piece of sheet music from him that morning and he needed it back before his free period, which, he had conveniently placed at the end of the day.

She stood up and briskly walked back inside the building toward her locker to retrieve the music. She had twenty minutes left of her lunch period and she was considering using it to go to the library, or perhaps practice in the auditorium for a little while.

She grabbed the music from her locker and put her lunchbox away, internally debating whether she should call Jesse or just drop it off in his locker and send him a text.

She decided on that latter as she didn't really want to see her boyfriend right now and started down the hall towards the Senior lockers. Things between them had been strained since what she had dubbed the 'Spring Break Incident.' It was eye opening for her and since that point she had realized how the majority of their relationship consisted of Jesse making demands of Rachel and her simply complying to make him happy. He never called her anymore, and he only texted or hung out with her when he wanted something or thought it would be beneficial for him. Being around him had come to feel like a chore for Rachel.

_Quinn never acts this way towards me. She is kind and loving and calls me just to say hello. She wants to know what I'm thinking and how my day has gone. She needs me to help her overcome stress and loves to hear me ramble on about practice or my fathers. She never makes me feel like being around me is an unsavory task completed only for the rewards afterward._

Rachel shook her head abruptly and a rosy blush overtook her cheeks as she realized she had just been comparing her boyfriend to her best friend. Okay, so maybe she had a teensy, little bitty, minuscule crush on Quinn Fabray. But, really, could you blame her? The girl looked like a goddess, with that beautiful blonde hair, her perfect nose, high cheekbones and sharp jaw. Those mesmerizing hazel eyes swirled with green. _Oh God, those eyes. _Not to mention her body. The girl had practically stripped right in front of her and Rachel had feared that her brain would shut down from overload. She is pretty sure she even drooled a little bit when she caught sight of Quinn's perfect abs and toned, round ass.

So yeah, she definitely had a tiny, small, insignificant crush on Quinn Fabray, but she could handle it. It wouldn't change anything.

Rachel's eyes narrowed as she approached Jesse's locker. Standing in front of it were Harmony and two of her new supporters from Vocal Adrenaline. Lately, Harmony had been less antagonistic towards her, and while that should have made her jump with glee, it only heightened her senses. Harmony had taken on a very condescending tone when addressing her and always had a smirk plastered on her face as if she knew something Rachel didn't. It set her on edge, and Rachel just knew the girl was planning something, or it was already in the works.

"Excuse me, I need to get in Jesse's locker," she informed them.

"Of course you do, Rachel," Harmony responded saccharinely. She waved her friends over. "Watch out, the Queen needs in her _adoring_ King's locker."

There was that damn smirk again. Rachel wished she knew what it meant. She quickly opened the locker and deposited the music as she questioned them. "What are you doing in front of Jesse's locker anyway, Harmony? I'm positive your locker is nowhere near here."

"Oh, don't you know? Hillary, has the locker right next to Jesse. We were merely conversing about Vocal Adrenaline rehearsals and the upcoming competition." Her smirk grew even more roguish as she continued. "We just want to ensure that we do _everything_ possible to make this the most memorable competition yet."

Rachel glared at her as her skin prickled. Something was going on, and she needed to figure out what it was. "I'm glad to see you are finally on board with the team, Harmony." She glanced at the other two girls briefly before she added "See you girls at practice this afternoon."

Rachel moved passed them and quickly made her way to Shelby's office. Harmony was plotting something. She just knew it, and she needed Shelby to give her some advice.

She stormed into Shelby's office and slammed the door in her wake. Shelby startled from paperwork she was filling out and gave Rachel a reproachful look.

With a huff, Rachel sat down across from her mother and shrugged. "I'm a diva and we both know it. You should be used to it by now." She said unapologetically.

"Always good to see you, too, Rachel" Shelby said as she rolled her eyes. "What can I do for you?"

Rachel's eyes were wild as she responded. "It's Harmony. She is plotting something to destroy me, I just know it. She is all smirky every time I see her and she has this evil glint in her eyes. And she's talking about how she is going to make this the most _memorable _competition yet!" She ranted as she tried to imitate Harmony's voice. "You have to do something about it. She is trying to steal my solo!" She yelled with a flourish of her hands.

Shelby reached across her desk and grabbed Rachel's hand. "Sweetheart, you have got to calm down. Nothing Harmony says or does will make you lose your solo, okay? Not as long I say have anything to say about it. You have worked hard your entire life and you have _earned_ that spot. You are the better singer and nothing she plans will change that fact," she told her earnestly. "Let her run herself in circles trying to take your spot. It's not going to happen. She isn't good enough, so don't let her get under your skin."

Rachel took a deep breath right as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. "You're right. I'm getting all worked up for nothing. She can't touch me." She stood up and made her way to the door. "Thank you. I'll see you this afternoon."

Although she was feeling better about her situation, she was still slightly anxious about what Harmony might be up to. Her last period of the day was filled with busy work, and her anxiousness caused her to fly through the assignment and finish with fifteen minutes to spare. She politely asked if she could head to the auditorium to begin her warmups for rehearsal (and really, who in their right mind would deny the star of Vocal Adrenaline time to hone her skills even more?).

She walked into the main entrance of the auditorium and approached the stage, hearing a strange sound echo around the room. As she got closer, she realized that she was hearing little moans and grunts of pleasure coming from somewhere along the back wall. She quickly ran up the steps to the stage, intent on berating these hormonal teenagers for participating in such activities on _her_ stage, but as she reached her destination, her mouth dropped open in shock.

There, supported by the wall, were Jesse and Harmony engaging in a very heated make-out session. One that had apparently been going on for a while if the urgency they shared was any indication. She watched as Jesse moved his mouth to Harmony's neck and moved his hips into hers simultaneously. She let out a loud moan and let her head fall back into the wall.

Rachel's hands went slack and all of the books she had been holding dropped with a loud thud onto center stage. The two immediately sprung apart and Jesse turned frantically to see who the intruder might be. When Harmony spotted her, a satisfied smile crawled across her face.

Jesse started and quickly made his way over to Rachel. "Rach? What are you doing here so early?"

Rachel squeaked in disbelief and took two steps forward to slap him across the face with all of the strength she could muster. He immediately covered the offended cheek with his hand and slowly turned back to look at her with his eyes narrowed.

"Are you kidding me? You have to audacity to ask me that question when I have just caught you _cheating_ on me?" She yelled at him.

Harmony had finally finished straightening herself out from her tryst and stalked slowly up to the arguing couple for a better view.

"Oh please, Rachel" Jesse scoffed. "You act as though we had the perfect loving relationship. I must admit we were good while we lasted, but we were never long-term. I'm moving to California in a few months time, so a break up was inevitable. You had to know this was going nowhere. I mean face it, our relationship is based mostly on status. You were the up and coming star when we first met. Of course I wanted to date you."

Anger was flowing like fire through Rachel's veins as she listened to him speak. Was he really suggesting that she meant nothing to him and that cheating was no big deal? "You asshole!" She screamed. "You told me you were going to New York. You told me you would wait for me, that we were going to take Broadway by storm together. Did you just make all of that up so I would fall in love with you?"

At this point Harmony decided to put her two cents in. "Well, maybe if you could have kept your man satisfied he wouldn't have come running to me to fulfill his needs. Luckily, I am more than enough for him."

Rachel sent Harmony a scathing glare, but quickly shifted her focus back to Jesse, ignoring her taunt. "I can't believe I ever trusted you. I was in love with you. I loved you so much that I let you take my virginity even though I wasn't ready. I just wanted to please you so badly." Rachel was rambling, hardly aware of what was coming out of her mouth as agony and desolation overtook her heart and mind. "You told me you would always be there for me, but you didn't even love me." Tears started cascading down her face as she continued. "You just used me for popularity and sex, you- you- you bastard!"

Jesse just looked at her totally unaffected and shrugged. "What do you expect Rachel? I have needs and we just made sense at the time. Now we don't."

"Don't worry, Rachel, I'm sure I can keep Jesse very happy after your break up. And I'm sure our fellow teammates will support me when I need to pick up the slack you leave behind as you deal with this devastating loss. " Harmony added as she looked over Rachel's shoulder, her eyes alight with triumph. "Isn't that right, everyone?"

Rachel's eyes immediately widened and she quickly turned to see all of Vocal Adrenaline watching with rapt attention as the scene on stage unfolded.

Humiliated, Rachel choked out a sob and covered her face as she realized that at least twenty people had just witnessed the worst moment of her life. She took off in a run, needing to get away from these people and their pitying looks or satisfied smiles as the darling of Vocal Adrenaline finally fell to her knees.

She could hardly make out where she was going as tears blurred her vision. She quickly grabbed her stuff and raced out to her car to fall apart in peace.

When she made it there, she pulled out her phone, knowing that the only thing that could make this better right now was Quinn. However, when she looked at the time, she realized that Quinn would still be busy with Cheerio tryouts. She texted her anyway in hopes that maybe Quinn would have her phone on her.

**Are you done with tryouts yet? -Rachel**

Rachel knew that she couldn't drive in this state, so she waited in her car, hoping she would calm down soon. However, the silence on the inside of her car slowly closed in on her as she got lost in her thoughts and the reality of the situation finally dawned on her. Her first love cheated on her, with her enemy, no less, and _everyone_ in Vocal Adrenaline knew it. Everyone knew that she had given such an important piece of herself to a douchebag who didn't even love her.

Whatever grasp on relief she had claimed since being in her car was lost immediately as she thought about what her teammates were probably saying right now. Tears rolled down her face as she allowed negative thoughts to run rampant in her mind. She texted Quinn again; she really needed to hear the blonde's comforting voice.

**Best Friend? Can you please call me? It's important. -Rachel**

She received no answer, but after several minutes of despair, she slowly pulled herself together just enough to drive home. She sent a quick thank you to the heavens that her father, Hiram, worked as an editor from home and she would be able to run straight into his arms when she arrived at home.

Rachel turned sharply into her driveway and practically sprinted into her house, seeking out a hug from her father. She ran down the hallway and burst into her father's study without knocking only to find it empty. She desperately searched the house for him, only to remember that her fathers were going to be gone for the rest of this week and all of next. They had decided to go on a cruise to the Bahamas and Shelby was supposed to be looking after her while they were gone. In fact, she was supposed to be heading over to stay at Shelby's house starting tonight.

Tears started to well up again as she realized that she was alone. Shelby wouldn't be free for another two hours when Vocal Adrenaline's practice ended. In desperation, she called Quinn, hoping the girl would pick up and make her heart feel at ease, if only for a little while.

When the call went to voicemail, Rachel stomped up the stairs, entered her room, and flung herself onto her bed in frustration, trying desperately to get her mind to be still so she could sleep off all of this emotion.

She pulled the folded quilt that lay at the foot of her bed over her body and covered her head, attempting to block out the world. But, after ten minutes of laying there with her mind in overdrive she finally gave up. She glanced briefly at the clock and realized that Quinn had thought she might be done with tryouts by now. _Maybe she is just talking to Santana and Brittany and will be able to answer when I call this time. _

Rachel picked up her phone and dialed Quinn's number, once again, it went to voicemail after a few seconds. At this point, Rachel was longing to hear her blonde's voice. Anything to make her feel just a little bit better. She quickly fired off a final text, knowing that when Quinn checked her phone and saw how distressed she was the girl would call her immediately.

**Please Quinn. I need to talk to you. -Rachel**

Rachel looked back at the clock so she could calculate how long she had to wait before Shelby would get home, but instead, her gaze landed on a picture of herself and Jesse from their one year anniversary dinner. He had taken her to a very reputable Italian restaurant in Columbus and afterwards they had gone for a walk in a beautiful park. Jesse had taken her off to the side and they had slow danced beneath the stars as he serenaded her. Later that night, after _much_ coaxing and reassurances of love from Jesse, she had given her virginity to him. It had always been one of her most precious memories. A romantic night with the boy she was so desperately in love with and would do anything to please.

And now it was tainted. Now all she could think about when she looked at that picture was how she had been a prize to him. A status symbol. How she didn't know if he ever really loved her.

Rage engulfed her as she grabbed the picture frame and threw it at her door. The glass shattered as it made contact, and Rachel felt immense relief at the sound. Unexpectedly, she had found a new way to cope.

She swiftly got out of bed and made her way to ensuite bathroom to grab her trashcan. When she returned to her room, she picked up the broken picture frame and discarded it into the can. She quickly began to make her way around her room, grabbing any photos of Jesse and throwing them away, trying to purge her room of all things that would remind her of his betrayal.

As she finished, she felt wetness on her cheeks, as a few more tears had leaked out from her anger. As good as it felt to rid her room of his presence, he was still on her mind and she was seemingly trapped inside it for as long as she was alone.

_How many times has he cheated on me? How many different girls? Did he ever really care about me? Was I ever more than just a conquest or status symbol to him? Surely he would have treated someone he really cared about much better than he has been treating me. I just a means of popularity. A way to become the power couple of Carmel High and royalty in the show choir circuit. Were these really the only reasons he wanted to be with me?_

She was drawn out of her trance by her phone ringing on her bed. She flew across the room and answered immediately as she saw that it was Quinn finally calling her back. In her haste, she hadn't noticed that her tears of anger and frustration had melted away into sadness, and sobs once again wracked her body in an odd combination of relief and despair.

"Qui-inn," she shuddered out through her tears. "I-I-I need you..."

"_Oh my God, Rachel? Honey, please calm down. What's going on?" _Quinn asked frantically through the phone.

"I-It's Jesse... God, Qu-Quinn. H-He's a c-cheating bastard!" Rachel yelled out in frustration. It was all she could get out at the moment.

She heard Quinn growl in anger before the girl responded. "_Okay, sweetheart, I will be there as soon as I can. I'm going home to talk to my mom and then I will come straight to Dayton. Just send me your address._"

"Okay..." Rachel responded meekly.

"_Rachel, honey, listen to me. It's going to be okay. I'll be there soon. I promise._" Quinn told her gently.

"Okay, see you soon, Quinn."

Rachel hung up the phone right as Shelby burst through her bedroom door. Upon seeing the tears and despair on her daughter's face she pulled Rachel into a bone crushing hug and began to whisper soft comforting words in her ear.

Rachel finally felt safe; relief and warmth washed over her. After a few minutes, she pulled back to look at Shelby as the woman started talking.

"Oh sweetie, I am so sorry. I came as soon as I could. I cut the practice short when I heard the kids talking about what happened. It took everything in me to not slap the arrogance out of Jesse as soon as I heard that he was cheating on you." Shelby admitted with a hard edge to her voice.

This drew a smile and soft laughter out of Rachel. "Believe me, I slapped him hard enough for the both of us." She assured the older woman.

"Hmm, well I'm not sure about that, but I guess it will have to do, seeing as I would experience some very severe backlash if I physically assaulted a student." Shelby mused with a smirk on her face.

After she finished what was surely a very fulfilling fantasy of slapping Jesse over and over, Shelby stood up and held her hand out to Rachel. "Let's get you packed and head over to my house, okay?"

Rachel nodded and began picking out clothes for the coming week. "Oh, by the way, I called Quinn and she said she is on her way here. I'm sorry.. I didn't even consider that I would be at your house.." Rachel trailed off sheepishly.

"Don't worry about that Rachel. Of course it is fine for Quinn to come over. You need your friends at times like these," she assured. "Why don't you finish packing your stuff and I'll send Quinn a quick text with my information so she can call me when she gets close. I can give her directions once she gets into town, okay?"

Rachel nodded her approval and handed Shelby her phone. A few minutes later, they locked up the Berry household and made their way to Shelby's.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the look into Rachel's mind. Only a couple of you guessed correctly, but I must say, some of you are kind of harsh, lol. Next chapter we will back to Quinn's POV. Let me know what you think :)


	14. Chapter 14

Quinn whipped into her driveway and screeched to a halt, noting that her mother's car was in the garage. She grabbed her bags and rushed inside, the sooner she was able to get to Dayton the better. Rachel's desperate cries were still echoing in her head and her heart was constricting violently in response. Quinn knew neither one of them would feel any real relief until she was holding Rachel in her arms.

She dropped her stuff on the couch and followed her nose to the kitchen, where she knew her mother was making desserts for the church picnic on Saturday evening. Judy was standing at the island cutting up a batch of brownies and moving them to a tupperware bowl. She looked up as Quinn entered the room and concern colored her face when she noticed how upset her daughter was.

"Sweetheart? What's wrong? Are you okay?" she questioned hurriedly.

Quinn nodded her head and was quick to reassure her mother. "I'm fine, don't worry. It's just... well it's Rachel. She found out her boyfriend of two and half years has been cheating on her, and she's devastated." Quinn shook her head as she took a deep breath to continue. "I have to go to Dayton, mom. Please, she needs me," she implored with a pleading look.

Judy nodded immediately. "Of course, sweetie. Go ahead, just remember you need to be back for the church picnic tomorrow. You're supposed to help keep the little ones."

Quinn rushed around the island and quickly hugged her mom. "Thank you so much, mom. This really means a lot," she told her as she pulled back from the embrace to go up to her room and pack some clothes.

Just after she made it out of the kitchen entirely, she heard her mother calling out to her, and she poked her head back through the door frame to show she was listening.

"Do not forget your commitment to the church. I mean it. If you skip this, you can forget about any spontaneous trips out of town in the future, regardless of the circumstances," she told her sternly. "Am I clear?" she asked as she raised the famous Fabray eyebrow.

Quinn shot her a beaming smile. "Don't worry, mom. You know you can count on me."

Quinn hurriedly took the stairs to her room to grab any essentials that she might need while in Dayton. She was just about to head back downstairs when an idea struck her. She made her way over to her closet and rummaged around for her box of childhood keepsakes. Once she found it, she pulled out the infamous bear that her mother had told Rachel about over Spring Break. Luckily, she had listened to her mother and stored her things with some baking soda, so it didn't smell musty. She made her way across the room to leave and, on a whim, she stopped and misted it with her perfume.

After promising to drive safely and call her mother as soon as she made it Rachel's, Quinn hopped into her car and began the hour drive to Dayton.

About thirty minutes into the drive, her phone signaled a new text message. She quickly glanced at it and saw that Rachel was staying with Shelby for the weekend. Shelby's address and phone number were included in the message and she was instructed to call Shelby when she got into to town for directions.

As she drove, her levels of anxiousness rose. She hadn't seen her best friend in a couple of weeks, and it would be a lie to say that she didn't miss her. She missed Rachel's mischievous grin when she was teasing, her strong voice, her infectious smile, and her relentless need to cuddle at all possible times. Unfortunately, she was afraid she wouldn't see much of those aspects of Rachel on this trip, especially if that phone call was any indication.

Quinn's heart clenched painfully as she recalled how broken Rachel had sounded. She wasn't exactly sure what had happened, but whatever Jesse did, he was going to pay for it, that much she knew. And she was pretty sure she knew a fiery Latina who would revel in the chance to put that slime-ball in his place.

When she reached the outskirts of town, she called Shelby to get directions. After a couple of wrong turns, she finally made it to the right street and hung up with Shelby so she could park. She called her mother quickly to let her know she made it and grabbed her bag before making her way up to the front door.

She barely had time to ring the doorbell before the door swung open and Rachel came rushing out. She immediately threw herself into Quinn's arms and buried her face into the blonde's neck, holding on for dear life. Quinn held her tightly, thankful that she could finally be here for her best friend.

"Oh Rach," she whispered gently into the girl's ear. "It's okay, honey. I'm here now, it's all gonna be okay."

She felt Rachel's body shake and she could feel tears on her neck. Instinctively, she pulled the smaller girl even closer, attempting to make her feel safe and loved.

"Shh, shh, shh. Calm down, sweet girl. It's alright, you're okay," she murmured as she nuzzled into Rachel's hair and soothingly rubbed circles on her back.

As they stood there in each other's arms, she became aware of several cars driving on the street in front of the house. She had a feeling Rachel would probably not appreciate having the whole neighborhood witness her breakdown, so she tried to loosen her grip in an effort to bring Rachel into the house.

As soon as she started pull away from the hug, she felt Rachel stiffen and let out a strangled, "No," as she clung even more firmly to Quinn.

"Okay, okay. I'm not going anywhere," Quinn assured her, tightening her arms around the brunette once more.

Determined to get the singer into the house, Quinn slowly ducked her body, wrapped her arms around the upper part of Rachel's thighs, and picked the girl up. Rachel's legs wrapped around Quinn's waist and Quinn carried her inside, shutting the door behind her.

She glanced around the entry hall, trying to find the living room so she and Rachel could sit down. Through a doorway to the right she spotted an overstuffed couch and made her way over, dropping her bag on the floor as she sat.

She adjusted Rachel to a more comfortable position across her lap and Rachel remained curled into her neck. Although she was still clinging to Quinn, her tears had slowed and her breathing was evening out. Quinn continued rubbing Rachel's back, calming the girl even more.

When Rachel finally regained some composure and pulled away from Quinn, her eyes were red and cheeks splotchy. Quinn gave her a gentle smile as she reached up to brush her thumb along the still wet tear tracks shining on her face.

"Hello, there," she greeted softly. "It's nice to see you, too."

Rachel's cheeks flushed in response and she ducked her head. "I'm sorry, Quinn. I don't know what came over me."

Quinn hooked her finger underneath Rachel's chin and forced her to make eye-contact. "Never, and I mean _never_, apologize for needing my shoulder to cry on." She said sincerely. "I don't think it has ever served a better purpose."

This got a small chuckle out of Rachel and Quinn's smile grew, proud of herself. She gave Rachel a gentle squeeze and looked at her seriously before speaking, "I'm sure this is a really dumb question, but how are you feeling?"

Rachel clamped her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Embarrassed. Hurt. Angry. Used. Foolish." She opened her and locked them with Quinn's. "I don't know... take your pick, I guess."

Quinn gave her a weak smile. "I'm so sorry, Rach. Do you want to- I mean- can you talk about it? We don't have to, but I just thought- I don't know- maybe it would make you feel better and I would know how badly I need to injure Jesse to get back at him," She rambled aimlessly, unsure of what to do or say to console someone since she didn't exactly have a lot of experience with it.

Luckily, her rambling brought some light back into Rachel's eyes. "You don't have to defend my honor, Quinn, but I do appreciate the sentiment. And yeah, I think I want to talk about it."

At some point during the last few minutes, Shelby had entered the room and soundlessly sat on the love-seat across from the two girls. They both listened attentively as Rachel started recounting the day's events. How Harmony had been acting strangely. How she had walked in on them hooking up in the auditorium. How shocked she had been. All of the awful things Jesse had said to her. How he said their relationship didn't matter because he was going to break up with her to go to California.

Rachel's face crumpled and her eyes started water as tells them how all of Vocal Adrenaline witnessed their fight and his cold attitude. "I loved him. I loved him so much. I trusted him. God, I even let him pressure me into sex at 15. I was too young. I wasn't ready, but I trusted him. I trusted him for two and half years he just threw it all back in my face like it was nothing," she choked out. She looked at Quinn with pain pouring out from the depths of her soul. "How could he do that to me? Is it- I mean- Is there something wrong with me? Am I unloveable?"

Quinn's heart felt like it was in a vice-grip as Rachel uttered those words. _How on earth could she think she was unloveable? She is the most magnificent person I have ever come into contact with. I can't believe how much of a jackass he really turned out to be. He _will_ pay for this. _

She reached up and wiped Rachel's tears as the girl leaned into her shoulder. "Please don't cry, sweetheart. I know you really cared about him, but any guy worth crying over doesn't pull stuff like this. He is just an asshole who doesn't deserve your tears."

As she finished her statement, she heard Shelby scoff in agreement. "You got that right. I cannot wait until I see him next. I will make him regret the day he began to worship his own reflection. I knew the boy was a little narcissistic, but I had no idea he was so selfish and unfeeling. _Nobody _treats my daughter like that," she burst out passionately. Her anger was radiating around the room, and that coupled with her ferocious glare and set jaw was enough to make Quinn cower a little in fear. This must be _Coach Corcoran_ that everyone talked about.

At the threat, Rachel's eyes went wide and her body tensed. "No, Shelby. You can't do that! Teacher's shouldn't get involved in their student's lives."

"Tell that to Mr. Schue," Quinn interjected softly as she rolled her eyes.

"If you make a big deal out of it, everyone might figure out that I'm your daughter. I don't want people to have even more reason to think I get special treatment," she pleaded.

With a sigh, Shelby conceded. "You're right. As far as anyone else is concerned, this is none of my business beyond making sure you are able to perform at your best when we get to Nationals."

Rachel relaxed back into Quinn and said a soft, "Thank you."

After a few seconds of silence Shelby clapped her hands and stood up. "You know what we need now? A girl's night to take your mind off everything. Quinn, do you like Chinese food?"

"Yes, ma'am." She answered with a big grin on her face.

"Alright then, I'll get the take out menu for a place near here. I'm going to run to the store to get some good junk food and I'll pick up dinner on the way home." Shelby told them excitedly, driven by the hope of making her daughter feel better.

A few minutes later, Shelby was gone and the house was dead quiet. Quinn looked over to Rachel to see her staring off into space and slightly curled into herself.

"Rach, I hate seeing you like this," she whispered. "What can I do to make it better?"

Rachel wrapped her arms around Quinn and held tightly. "This," she murmured. "Just more of this."

Quinn nodded and slowly shifted their bodies so they were laying side by side on the couch. Rachel's eyes began to look very stormy, and Quinn could tell that she was lost in her own head. Instinctively, she began to hum a soft, slow tune, while running her hand up and down Rachel's arm in an attempt to give her something to focus on other than her self-deprecating thoughts.

Rachel's eyes began to get heavy as Quinn continued her ministrations. After several minutes, she finally settled down and snuggled into Quinn's side, tucking her head beneath the blonde's chin.

Quinn's thoughts drifted away from Rachel's situation and she couldn't help but notice how perfectly their bodies had melded together. It was almost like Rachel was made to fill that space.

The breaths that were tickling her neck put her on edge and a small shiver went through her as goosebumps rose across her skin. The shiver jostled Rachel slightly, and she burrowed further into Quinn's neck in response. Moments later, her breathing evened out and Quinn realized that Rachel had finally fallen asleep.

She tried to stay as still as possible so she wouldn't disturb Rachel, but that proved to be difficult when her heart was racing. She was acutely aware of all of the places they were touching. As she took stock of her body, she realized just how intimately their bodies were entwined. Rachel's hand was clutching Quinn's shirt above her chest and her leg was thrown over Quinn's. Quinn's eyes suddenly widened as she realized that her thigh was placed right up against Rachel's center.

_What the hell are you doing? This is your best friend! You can't think of her like that. I'm sure she never intended to situate herself like this. Just calm down. This is _not_ a friendly_ _reaction to her proximity in the least. _

Quinn silently berated herself as she tried to slow her heart down and calm to butterflies in her stomach. To distract herself, she began to look around Shelby's living room. It was a very elegant room, beautifully decorated, with pictures of her and Rachel scattered about. There were even some of Rachel, her fathers, and Shelby in New York. They truly were an unconventional family, but they looked so very happy.

As time ticked by, Quinn felt her eyes get heavy and she was slowly dozing off alongside the little brunette. Just as she drifted off, keys rattling in the front door caught her attention. Apparently Shelby was back, and she probably had a lot of bags to bring in.

Quinn attempted to sneak out of Rachel's grasp so she could help Shelby bring in her purchases, but as soon as she moved, Rachel's grip on her tightened. She stirred for a second and adjusted herself to have a firmer grasp on Quinn, wedging her leg in between the blonde's.

Quinn stiffened and inhaled sharply as an incredible tingling sensation washed over her whole body, spreading from her core outward. Her mind started waging war with her body; one clouded with fear and confusion and the screaming for _more._ This feeling was completely foreign to her and she didn't know what exactly to make of it.

She was brought out of her mental battle when the front door slammed closed. The sound of Shelby struggling with bags in the entryway renewed her determination to be a good guest and help out, she has had proper manners ingrained since she was a toddler after all.

She knew she would never get out of the vice-grip Rachel had on her without waking the girl, so gently she brought her hand up to Rachel's face. With her fingertips, she slowly trailed a line from Rachel's defined cheekbone, across her neck, and finally out to her shoulder, where she gave a firm squeeze and quietly called the girl's name hoping to rouse her.

A contented smile crossed Rachel's face at the contact, and her eyes slowly blinked open, looking at Quinn questioningly.

Quinn cleared her throat before speaking. "Um.. Shelby is back and I think she probably needs some help... so uh...If you could um..." She gestured dumbly at their bodies, hoping Rachel would get the message.

"Oh.." Rachel's face turned scarlet when she realized that she had practically straddled Quinn in her sleep. "I'm so sorry," she said as she released Quinn. "Apparently I'm a cuddler..." she finished awkwardly.

"It's fine, Rach. Don't worry about it," Quinn quickly assured before she hopped up and made her way towards Shelby.

When she made it the entryway, Shelby had finally given up on making it in one trip and was putting some bags on the floor. She looked up when she heard Quinn approaching. "Oh thank goodness, I almost dropped our food all over the floor! Would you mind taking a few of these?" She asked.

"Of course," Quinn answered as she helped Shelby shuffle the bags around so they could be carried comfortably before walking into the living room together.

"That's the food," Shelby told Quinn as she nodded at the bags she had handed over. "You can just put it on the coffee table. I'll be back in a bit with some drinks. Do you want anything specific?"

Quinn shrugged her shoulders. "Water is just fine with me, thank you."

Shelby nodded and looked to Rachel. "And you?"

"Water is good for me, too," she answered as she stretched and sat up.

"Alright, I'll be right back," Shelby told them before making her way into the kitchen.

Quinn set the take out bags on the coffee table and started spreading the cartons across the surface.

Shelby returned with three bottles of water and forks. She set them down, grabbed her food, and settled down into the love seat. "Alright, so we have takeout, junk food, and good company. I think the only things we are lacking are boy bashing stories and a good movie." Her eyebrows rose in question as she looked at the two girls sitting on the couch. "So, which one first?"

Quinn looked to Rachel and bumped their shoulders together. "You should pick, this night is about cheering you up, after all."

Rachel's face scrunched up in concentration and she finally said, "Let's do the movie first. Something light-hearted, though. And no romance, please."

Shelby's eyes lit up as an idea struck her. "Hold on, I know just the one." She went over to the entertainment center and picked out a movie, careful not to let the two girls see what it was. She loaded it into the DVD player and made her way back to her seat. "You used to love this movie as a child, I think you knew all of the songs by heart by your third birthday," Shelby told them proudly.

Quinn looked to Rachel, to see if she knew which movie Shelby had picked out, but the brunette just shrugged her shoulders in confusion.

As the opening scene played, Quinn let out a short chuckle, imagining a three year old Rachel signing along with Mary Poppins.

As the movie played, the girls finished their food and got comfortable on the couch. It was't long before Rachel was tucked into Quinn's side, holding her hand, and resting her head on a strong shoulder. This position was so second nature to the two of them that Quinn didn't even question it anymore. They were both too wrapped up in the movie to notice the intrigued gaze Shelby was giving them.

When the movie finished Shelby proclaimed that it was time for boy bashing and junk food. She came back from the kitchen with 3 different pints of ice-cream, vegan for Rachel of course, and asked Quinn if she was dating anyone.

"No, I broke up with Finn a while back because he was a complete idiot. His idea of a date was going to the same restaurant week after week and watching whatever sport was in season at his house. Plus, I was only dating him because I felt like I was supposed to, you know, the whole head cheerleader/quarterback relationship," she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Totally not worth it. I haven't been with anyone else because I want to actually be excited about someone when I date them... I guess I haven't really felt that yet," she explained as bit her lip and glanced at Rachel from the corner of her eye.

"Well, that is completely understandable Quinn. You deserve someone wonderful," Rachel asserted as she laid her hand on Quinn's thigh.

"Let me warn you though, boys never really grow up. So don't get your hopes up too high," Shelby added with a laugh.

"What about you? Any good stories?" Rachel asked Shelby.

Shelby leaned back into the couch and looked up as she sorted through old memories with a sly grin on her face. "Oh, there are a few... Mostly boys I had trained to attend my every whim. That made for quite the college experience," she said wistfully.

"What about now, any men in your life?" Quinn asked.

Shelby laughed heartily. "Actually, the last man in my life was your very own Mr. William Schuester."

"WHAT?!" both Quinn and Rachel exclaimed at the same time.

"Shelby! Isn't he married?" Rachel balked, looking scandalized.

"Well, he used to be. I actually think he was actually going through his divorce at the time," she mused.

"I can't believe you were with Mr. Schue... that's just... eww," Quinn murmured, her face covered with thinly veiled disgust.

"Don't worry, Quinn, it was nothing serious. More of a fleeting interest and excitement over finding a show choir director who wasn't gay." Shelby assured. "It won't be happening again. I promise."

Rachel gave Shelby a hard look, "It better not, that's almost traitorous."

Shelby laughed as she got up and stretched. "Well girls, I think it's time for this old woman to go to bed." She walked over to Rachel and gave her a kiss on top of her head. "Don't stay up too late. I scheduled a make-up practice tomorrow morning and you need to be prepared."

"Yes, ma'am," Rachel responded softly.

After Shelby bid them goodnight, Rachel and Quinn decided to go up to Rachel's room. Rachel explained that Shelby had always kept her when her father's had gone on business trips or small getaways, so this was her home away from home.

As Quinn looked around the muted yellow room, covered in Broadway posters and family pictures, she had to admit, she never would have known that this wasn't Rachel's room all the time.

She spotted a Wicked poster and was very surprised to see that it was autographed by the cast. "Did you go see this in New York?" she asked as she motioned to the poster.

Rachel nodded her head. "Yeah my fathers and Shelby took me. It was incredible. Breathtaking really," she finished wistfully.

Quinn hummed. "I would really like to see that one. I have heard it's amazing."

"It's definitely worth it. I mean I'm sure you could tell from the exquisite soundtrack."

Quinn looked away from the poster to Rachel and shook her head. "Actually I haven't heard any of the songs."

Rachel's mouth dropped open in horror. "Oh my God, please tell me you are kidding. Not even Defying Gravity?"

The blonde haltingly shook her head again.

"Okay, that's it, I need to rectify this travesty immediately. Go change into your pajamas and then we are listening to the soundtrack before we go to sleep."

Quinn laughed as she saluted Rachel. "Well then, yes ma'am."

A few minutes later, they were ready for bed and settled in for the night. Rachel had already turned out her bedroom light and the only light in the room was coming from a small bedside lamp near her iPod dock.

Quinn lay on her back staring up at the ceiling as she listened to the soundtrack and Rachel's intermittent explanations of the songs. Several songs had passed when she felt Rachel begin to softly trace the lines on the palm of her hand that was laying on top of the duvet between them.

It began to tickle too much for her so she flexed her fingers and grabbed Rachel's hand. At the action, Rachel looked up from her intent study of Quinn's hand.

"How are you doing?" Quinn inquired earnestly.

Rachel sighed. "I'm alright, I guess. Kind of numb right now, you know?"

Quinn raised her eyebrow in a silent request to explain further.

"Well, I mean obviously I'm still hurt, but now that I'm more emotionally stable and kind of removed from the situation, it doesn't surprise me as much as it should. Looking back, I feel like for the past year we have been more of a showmance than a romance. We have been gradually been spending less and less time together and, well, if I'm honest, it was a lot easier to overlook these last couple of months."

"Really? Why?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Because I was really excited about and very focused on this new friendship with a certain blonde cheerleader at a rival school," she answered flippantly. After a beat she looked Quinn in the eye, linked their fingers and very seriously added, "She kind of makes everything better, you know?"

"Hmm, sounds like you better keep this girl around then. And no doubt she has earth-shattering good looks and a heart stopping smile," she mused. "Probably an amazing personality too, real mysterious or something of the like."

Rachel snorted and punched Quinn lightly on the shoulder before turning off the lamp and scooting closer to Quinn, putting her head on the girl's shoulder. "Yeah, she's extraordinarily humble as well," she drawled.

Quinn chuckled lightly as she wrapped her arm around the small brunette. She closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of Rachel softly stroking her stomach. When she was close to drifting off to sleep, she gave Rachel a soft kiss on her forehead, squeezing her briefly. She buried her face into Rachel's hair and inhaled deeply, surrounding herself in Rachel. Just as she fell asleep, she registered a faint kiss on her collarbone in response.

* * *

Four hard knocks on the door jerked Quinn out of one of the most satisfying dreams she had in a while: Slowly torturing St. Douchebag until he was reduced to tears and pleading for mercy from the treacherous Ice Queen of McKinley, flanked by Satan herself.

"Rachel!" Shelby called through the door. "Rachel, you need to get a move on. Practice starts in two hours and we need to get there early."

A pathetic whimper sounded to the right of Quinn. "Don' wanna get up... head hurts..." Rachel whined petulantly.

BANG-BANG-BANG

"Rachel, are you up? I'm not leaving until I see you," Shelby added with a no nonsense tone.

"Ugh!" Rachel groaned as she threw the covers back angrily. She rolled out of bed and stomped her way over to her bedroom door. She opened it roughly and fixed a seething glare on Shelby's smiling face. "I'm up, are you happy now?" She snapped.

Shelby gave Rachel a satisfied grin and leaned over to kiss her lightly on the head. "Yes, I am." she told her.

Rachel rolled her eyes at her mother's somewhat smug expression. Shelby reached out and grabbed Rachel's shoulders and turned her around before swatting her bottom. "Now get moving. We don't have time to waste."

Rachel sighed in resignation. "Alright, alright. I'm going, I'm going," she relented. She closed the door and immediately ran back to the bed, launching herself at Quinn.

Quinn let out a shocked and frightened squeal as Rachel landed on top of her.

"Quiiiinnn, I don't wanna go to practice. I don't wanna see him again so soon. Can't I just stay here with you all day?" she murmured into Quinn's shoulder.

Quinn's arms had automatically wrapped themselves around Rachel and she was already brushing her hands up and down Rachel's back, providing a modicum of comfort.

"I know you don't, honey, and I can think of nothing more wonderful than spending the day with you, but I have to get back to Lima. I'm supposed to help my mom with the church picnic. She made me swear by pain of endless grounding that I would be there," she explained in a sarcastic tone while rolling her eyes.

Rachel pushed herself up to look at Quinn, her brow furrowed and lips pushed out in a perfect pout. "But how am I supposed to survive practice without you?" she whimpered.

"I'm sure it won't be quite as bad you are picturing it," she reassured. "And you will still have Shelby here. I mean, I know she isn't quite as awesome as I am, but it's better than nothing, right?" she added cheekily.

Rachel scoffed and hit Quinn lightly on the shoulder before rolling off of the blonde and throwing her arm over her eyes. "This really is going to be a rough day, though," she whispered.

Quinn's head turned toward Rachel and she gave a sad smile, despite the fact that Rachel wouldn't see it. "I know, but you can always call me later and I'll do my best to make you feel better," Quinn assured. "And oh my gosh, I can't believe I almost forgot!" She face-palmed before hopping out of bed and dashing across the room to her bag.

Rachel's eyes followed her curiously as Quinn pulled something out and hid it behind her back.

She walked back to the bed with a self-satisfied smirk on her lips. "I just happened to bring you something that I think will cheer you up," she sing-songed.

Rachel's eyes lit up at the prospect of a present and she sat up in bed, attentive. "What is it?" she asked excitedly.

"Something that has never, in the last 17 years, failed in making it 'all better' for me," she hinted before pausing dramatically, fully enjoying Rachel almost shaking with anticipation.

Finally, she decided to put the girl out of her misery and pulled the bear out from behind her back. "Rachel, meet Bear, the other half of the infamous Quinnie-Bear duo. He is here to take my place as snuggle buddy for when I am otherwise engaged, or, you know, in another city."

Rachel's mouth dropped open in silent amazement. "Really, Quinn? You're leaving him with me?"

Quinn nodded and offered Rachel the bear. "Of course. I would trust no one else with the task of comforting the most important girl in my life."

A light blush overtook Rachel's cheeks as she reached out to take it. "Thank you so much Quinn," she breathed out reverently. Bear was immediately pulled into an embrace and Rachel buried her face into his soft head. She inhaled deeply and a smiled before looking up at Quinn questioningly. "He even smells like you."

Now Quinn's cheeks colored slightly and she rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Right, well, I thought- I mean- I hoped that if he smelled like me it might help a little more because you would feel like I was still here? So I- uh, well, I sprayed him with my perfume before I left," she mumbled, looking down at her feet.

Rachel jumped to her feet and pecked Quinn on the cheek before wrapping her up in a tight hug. "And you were exactly right. Thank you so much, Quinn. This is just what I needed."

A face splitting smile bloomed on Quinn's face as she reveled in the contact. The girls separated after a few moments when Shelby came knocking again, reminding them that they needed to get ready.

After showering, dressing, and fixing themselves up, they met downstairs for a quick breakfast before parting ways.

Quinn made her way back to Lima, and about halfway there, she decided to send an encouraging text to Rachel, as their practice was about to begin.

**Be strong, Rach. You're better than all of them put together. -Q**

After she sent the message, she scrolled down her contacts to another commonly used number.

"Hey, San. How do you feel about getting some revenge on Jesse St. Dirtbag?"

A/N: I am so so sorry for making y'all wait for this for so long! I got caught up with class and work and this got put on the back burner. I promise I will try to do a better job of updating. I don't think I'll be back to once a week, but hopefully at least every 2 weeks. Also, I haven't had a chance to respond to reviews from the last chapter, but I will do that soon. I appreciate every comment you leave. I love to hear your take on the story, what you enjoy, don't enjoy, or would like to see. Now I haven't quite decided what I'm going to have the Unholy Trinity do to get back at Jesse yet, but I would love to hear suggestions from you guys if you have any. Thanks for reading and let me know what you think :)

Oh, also, bonus points for anyone who can tell me the previous Mary Poppins reference I have made in this fic. Strange coincidence as this isn't even one of my favorite movies, but that line is definitely one of my favorites to quote.


	15. Chapter 15

"You _so_ owe me for this, Fabray." Santana grumbled as she as crawled into Quinn's passenger seat with a glare fixed on her face. She, like Quinn, was dressed in black cargo pants, combat boots, and a long sleeve black shirt with her hair pulled up into a regulation high pony. She slung a duffel bag into the back seat and hung her cheerleading outfit up next to her captain's.

Quinn quirked an eyebrow at the irritated brunette as she put her car into drive and headed to McKinley. "Oh please, San, don't even try to act like you aren't chomping at the bit to bruise St. James' oversized ego. I thought you were gonna flip your shit when I told you what he did to Rachel. Who knew you had such a soft spot for divas?"

Santana's eyes narrowed further. "Shut up, Blondie. I can't believe I'm up at 3 freaking AM for this. It better be worth it," she grumbled.

"Oh believe me, it will be. I'm just glad all those hours listening to Rachel drone on about Jesse and his quirks are actually going to pay off," Quinn laughed as she shook her head. "Who would have thought that knowing about Jesse's insistence on using heavy sleeping pills to ensure proper beauty sleep would come in handy?"

Santana snorted. "With the description you gave me of his morning ritual, I'm beginning to think he might be more of a girl than I am."

Quinn turned off her lights before turning into the alley behind McKinley and parking her car. She shook her head and smirked. "Yeah, well I tried to tell Rachel that I was pretty sure he was gay, but she wasn't buying it."

They both got out of the car and made their way to the back entrance of the school. Quinn pulled out her set of master keys and opened the door to the deserted building. They quickly made their way down the hall toward the Coach Sylvester's office.

Once they arrived, Quinn looked expectantly at Santana. "Let's hope your lock picking skills are a great as you claim. I don't want to waste too much time here."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm going. I'm going," she grumbled as she started working on the lock. "Too bad Sylvester has to be so fuckin' paranoid. Shit would be a lot easier if she didn't insist on replacing the school's locks with her own." Santana struggled with the lock, her face getting redder as she continued to unsuccessfully tamper with it.

"You're doing it all wrong, Sanny."

Quinn and Santana both started at the unexpected voice. Quinn turned around with her hand over her heart trying to regain control of her breathing while Santana rubbed her head where she had hit it on the door knob.

"Britt-Britt, what are you doing here?" Santana asked her face screwed up slightly from pain.

Brittany came forward from where she had been sitting across the hall, perfectly hidden in her all black attire that matched the other girls. "Lord Tubbington told me all about your plans for today and I thought you would need my help, even if you didn't think you would. Why didn't you guys tell me about this?"

Quinn's face twisted slightly in shame. "I'm sorry, Brit. I just didn't want you to get your hands dirty and I didn't think you would really care that much about this," she explained apologetically.

"Of course I care! San told me what Jesse did to Rachel. He's not a nice person and I don't want to let him get away with this," Brittany responded indignantly as she waved Santana out of the way. She made her way up to the door and unlocked it within in seconds. Smirking, she turned around and gestured inside the room. "After you ladies."

Quinn and Santana looked at her slack jawed, "What did you... How did.. I don't... How did you do that so fast?" Santana asked in disbelief.

Brittany rolled her eyes. "I keep telling you that you need to listen when Lord Tubbington talks. He totally knows everything."

Quinn smirked at Santana as she made her way into Coach Sylvester's office. "Looks like I recruited the wrong member of the Unholy Trinity to help me," she teased, sitting down at Sue's desk.

She quickly booted up the computer and logged into her coach's school email account. She wrote up an email excusing herself, Santana, and Brittany from all classes that day due to 'Official Cheerios Business' and set it to send out at 7 AM.

Santana looked on in thinly veiled admiration. "I still can't believe you managed to figure out her password. She is gonna kill you when she sees that email, you know that right?"

Quinn shut off the computer and rearranged everything to its original position. "_I _can't believe that her password is 'Death2Schuester,'" she rolled her eyes. "And I can guarantee she won't do anything to us once she finds out about it. She is going to be so impressed that we pulled it off and wreaked major havoc at another school that she won't do anything but give us a grudging nod when we show up for practice."

The girls made their way back out to Quinn's car and began the drive to Dayton. Once they arrived in town and Quinn started navigating to Jesse's house Santana turned to her curiously.

"Okay, so I get how you know what would hurt the boy the most and I get how you know that he uses sleeping pills and I _even_ get that you know like every detail of his morning routine, but how in God's name did you manage to get the boy's address and know exactly which room is his? I mean, stalker much?"

Quinn glanced at Santana with a smug smile. "That my friends, is the best part. I happen to be somewhat close to Shelby Corcoran. Close enough to know that she is livid about what Jesse did to Rachel. I told her about what I was planning and asked for her help. She was more than willing to offer her services seeing as she can't directly do anything to get revenge on one of her students."

Santana whistled, clearly impressed with her captains connections and scheming. "It seems I have underestimated your deviousness my horrible Ice Quinn."

They parked a few houses down from their target and Quinn waggled her eyebrows. "Oh, you have no idea. I even got her to reschedule their morning practice so we could have more time."

They quietly made their way onto the porch of the St. James house and Quinn picked up a potted plant to pull out the spare key that Rachel had mentioned a few weeks ago. As she began unlocking the door Brittany worriedly asked, "Q, what about his parents? They might hear us."

"Don't worry Brit, his parents are like non-existent. Apparently they are like corporate tycoons and are always away on business trips. They will be in London for the next week and a half."

Slowly, the girls crept inside and tiptoed up the stairs to Jesse's room. The door creaked as they pushed it open and Quinn moved the small flashlight she was carrying around the room. It landed on St. Asshole himself, hair a mess, mouth hanging open, drooling, and dead to the world.

"Alright, let's do this," she whispered to the other girls. She started to make her way over to Jesse only to be stopped by Santana's hand on her arm. She turned to look questioningly at her second in command.

"Wait, let's just make sure he really is as knocked out as he looks. We can't very well have him waking up while we do this," she reasoned.

Quinn nodded her head in acquiescence and Brittany immediately clapped her hands once very loudly. They looked at Jesse expectantly, ready to dash out the door if he moved. After 10 seconds of complete silence while he lay there like a log, Quinn shrugged and motioned the girls forward.

She handed Brittany the flashlight as Santana dug into her bag and pulled out a hair trimmer and a trash bag. She offered Quinn the hair trimmer. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Quinn smirked as she grabbed it and maneuvered herself onto the bed to have better access to Jesse's head. She turned it on and moved it straight through the center of his head, catching the hair as it fell and putting it in the trash bag. Two minutes later, Jesse was sporting a beautiful new buzz cut a la Quinn Fabray. She crawled off the bed and slightly angled her head to admire her work.

"Hmm, it's good, but..." she trailed off.

"There's something missing." Brittany finished for her.

They stood there contemplating for a couple of seconds before Santana exclaimed. "Oh! I so gots this!"

She dug around in her bag again and emerged with some shaving cream and a razor. Quinn raised her eyebrow, intrigued by what the devious Latina had planned.

Santana stood between Quinn and Jesse and worked on the boy's head in a very precise manner.

Finally, she moved away and Quinn had to bite her lip to keep from howling with laughter. Still completely dead to the world, was an eyebrow-less and very unattractive Jesse St. James. She snorted a few times and smiled widely at her fiery friend. "God, San, you're a genius."

"Oh, that's not even the best part," she informed them as she turned him to reveal 'douche' shaved into the back of his head. "He more than likely won't even notice this once he sees all of the other damage we've caused," she snickered.

Once the girls cleaned all the hair they could, they moved into Jesse's ensuite bathroom and Quinn smiled as she picked up the the towel Jesse had hanging on a rack. Thankfully it was blue, meaning they would be able to pull off her next plan. She only had red, blue, and green dye available, so she was hoping she would get lucky. She tossed the towel to Brittany and told her to lay it out on the ground and pulled out another from the cabinet, just to be safe. Santana pulled out two packages of blue powdered food dye and handed one to Quinn. The two girls knelt over the towels and sprinkled the dye over the towel, working it as deep into the fibers as they could. When they finished covering it, they shook off the excess into their trash bag and repeated the process on the opposite side.

Satisfied with her work, Quinn carefully put both towels back how she found them so that Jesse wouldn't suspect any foul play. She glanced at her watch. "Holy crap it's almost 6:30 and we have still a poster to make. Let's go, we need to get to Shelby's."

The girls quickly checked the room to ensure they got all of their belongings and made their way out to Quinn's car after replacing the hide-a-key.

They hurried across town to Shelby's house. The door swung open and the three girls were met with stern looking _Coach Corcoran. _Quinn could hear Santana gulp as the girl was visibly taken aback by the fierceness seen in Shelby's inquiring gaze.

Shelby crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Well?" she asked.

Quinn smiled with a twinkle in her eye. "It's all going to plan," she answered smugly.

Shelby relaxed and smiled at the girls before stepping aside to let them in. "Excellent. Come in. Come in." She lead them back through the house to her study, where her computer had several promotional pictures of Vocal Adrenaline pulled up.

"There are several individual shots of both my leads in that folder. I think you should find an acceptable photograph amongst those," she told the girls as she walked back towards the door. "Send it to my email at school when you are finished and you can use the printer and scanner there."

"Okay, seriously, Q. What the hell? How do you know her? And why is she helping you do this?" Santana questioned as they crowded around the computer.

"Let's just say she is a close family friend of the Berry's." Quinn answered cryptically as she scrolled through several photographs of Jesse and Rachel. She finally found the one she was looking for: Jesse had his signature self-satisfied grin on his face and his arms crossed as he casually leaned against a wall.

She moved the image into photoshop and set to work. Thirty minutes (and some additions from Santana) later, she beamed at her finished product. She had gotten the idea from Friends and thought it was too perfect to pass up. Near Jesse's head she had written "What Jesse isn't telling you..." and along the bottom the poster was titled "Herpes: You never know who might have it."

"God, that's perfect, Q! I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees this." Santana choked out through her laughter.

Brittany cocked her head to the side. "I know that we want to get Jesse back, but what about that chick that was like trying to ruin Rachel's life? Aren't we going to get her back too?"

Quinn's brow furrowed as she realized that she hadn't even considered making Harmony pay for her part in this. "You're right Britt-Britt, she shouldn't get off easy and let Jesse suffer alone." With that she took off into the kitchen where Shelby was cooking them all breakfast.

"Any chance I can bum Harmony's cell number off of you? I'm thinking she deserves a little comeuppance as well," Quinn asked as she sidled up across from Shelby.

Shelby eyes flashed and she slid her phone over the countertop to Quinn and cryptically said, "Rachel's birthday," before turning back to the stove.

Quinn rushed back into the study as she typed 1218 into the phone and immediately went into contacts. She found Harmony's number and added it to the top corner of the poster stating. "Call for a good time. Highly recommended by Jesse, himself. Condoms recommended for your own protection."

Satisfied with her work, she sent it to Shelby's school email and the girls leisurely ate breakfast before heading to Carmel, making sure to arrive just after first period had begun. They entered through the auditorium to avoid being spotted before they were ready and met Shelby in her office.

Shelby had the poster pulled up on her computer, already printing. "Lucky for you girls, we just happen to have a large poster printer available right here in my office, donated by our sponsors." She let out a laugh at Quinn's pleased expression. "That should take about half an hour to finish. I would wait until second period to put it up. There is a fifteen minute break between second and third period, so that would be the ideal time to make your entrance. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go ensure that Jesse shows up to school by threatening to give away his part for nationals and find myself an alibi for the rest of the next 2 hours."

Quinn printed out at smaller copy of the poster she had created and made her way over the copy machine located in the room adjoining Shelby's office. She set it to make 400 copies and the girls patiently waited while it finished.

After second period began, the girls began scouring to school to find the perfect place to put up their poster. They soon found an area that had 4 major hallways meeting and a staircase that ended not far from a large bulletin board. After taping the poster to the board, planting several of the smaller posters on lockers and scattering even more around the hallways, they made their way back to Shelby's office and changed into their Cheerios uniforms, knowing that no one could make an entrance quite like the Unholy Trinity.

_Carmel High won't know what hit them._

__A/N: I apologize for the long wait. Hopefully, I can be more regular with updates once finals are over. Special thanks to anon for the poster idea, I absolutely loved it and I hope I did it justice.

Thank you to **anonymous, mythic-lionheart, anon, JPElles, cburton1995, writing is love, LoveSKINS94, Jaely, Devin Jaste, Nightlancer600, J, LoveLight22, , ichigo111981, sapphirous, DameonCain, and meso30180** for your reviews in the last 2 chapters. If you have asked specific questions I promise I will answer you soon!

Coming up next, Rachel's POV for the big reveal.


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